The Marauders: Year One
by Melissitchka
Summary: The Marauders first year at Hogwarts- little crushes & a few pranks.
1. Is this compartment full?

    "Is this compartment full?" a pale, quiet boy with light blonde hair asked as he slid the door open. Clearly it wasn't, but he was sure the two boys wouldn't want him to sit with them. They were so loud and they didn't look scared at all, they had to be third years at least. The shorter one with the messy hair and glasses looked up at him.  
  
    "Does it look full? Of course not, come on, sit down," he shoved some of his stuff over to make room for the boy with the blonde hair. "Sirius, would you give me back that Chocolate Frog, it's my last one!"   
  
    The other boy, whom the short one had just called Sirius, looked at the new one with a twinkle in his eye as he popped open the box and tried to cram the frog into his mouth before it could hop out of his hand. Quick as lightening, the boy with the messy hair had sprung across the car and tried to grab the frog from him. All the while, the quiet boy with the blonde hair was trying to curl himself up into a little ball wondering what on Earth he'd gotten himself into sitting down in this compartment.   
  
    The struggle ended when the frog jumped from both their hands out into the hall where it was stepped on by a boy passing by. The boy was already in his Hogwarts uniform, robes and all, and looked down at his boot in disgust.   
  
    "Potter," the boy said. "These boots are brand new. My father got them for me from Italy."  
  
    At the word Potter, the boy with the messy black hair and glasses looked up and rolled his eyes. "Like I care, Malfoy. Why don't you have your little grease ball friend there lick them clean for you?" With that he leaned over across the boy curled into the little ball shut the door with a loud thud as the other boy, the one with the neat dark hair pulled out his wand and muttered, "Colloportus."   
  
    The boys on the outside began tugging on the door, but to no avail. Potter and the boy who'd uttered the spell leaned back on opposite sides of the car laughing at the struggle taking place on the other side of the door. As their laughter tapered off they both seemed to realize at nearly the same time that the chubby little blonde boy was still curled up in the corner of the car.   
  
    "Hey, we're not gonna hurt you or anything. Really. Those guys out there are jerks. Lucius Malfoy, stupid git, his family and mine go way back… he likes to make trouble. I have no idea who that was with him; did you recognize him, James?" James shook his head and began rummaging through a nearby bag. "I'm Sirius Black." He gestured towards James. "And that's James Potter." He stuck out his hand. "We're first years."   
  
    The little blonde boy had uncurled a bit during Sirius's little speech and was nearly sitting like a normal person. He reached out and grasped Sirius's hand. "I'm Peter…" He was interrupted by James.   
  
    "Aha! I knew I had one more." James looked up with a Chocolate Frog package in his hand. Sirius made as though he was about to attack again. "No you don't." He moved a little farther away from Sirius. "Here you go, Pete. We both had a bunch when the trolley came around earlier. So, is this your first year too?"   
  
    Peter reached forward to take the Chocolate Frog package and nodded. "Yea. Do these really, I mean…" he trailed off and eyed the package. "Is this going to hop all around my stomach?" He looked a little nervous.   
  
    "A Muggle born!" crowed Sirius. Peter gave him a look.  
  
    "A what?"  
  
    "Oh you have so much to learn," he said. "Whatta ya say, Jamesy boy? Shall we take him under our wing? Teach him the ways of the wizarding world?"   
  
    "Do _not_ call me Jamesy boy, Siri-wiri-poo… isn't that what your mom called you on the platform before we left?" James ducked just in time to avoid the textbook Sirius chucked at his head. He turned to Peter, "No, it's just got one good hop in it. The good things about the Chocolate Frogs are the cards. Go on, open it." Peter gave him a bit of a wary glance and opened the package. He grabbed the frog and swallowed it quickly. Then he glanced into the package and saw something moving. He pulled out the little five sided card and gasped.   
  
    "It moved!"  
  
    "Well duh, do you think they want to sit around all day looking at your ugly mug?" Sirius asked, quickly following that with, "Only kidding you know. Actually, wizarding pictures all move around, it's just… what they do. Now your Muggle pictures, those things are odd. I mean, they just sit there, like they've got nothing better to be doing. Strange. Anyway, who'd you get? I've been looking for Habeus forever, can't seem to find him anywhere."   
  
    "Uh… Dippet? Says he was an old headmaster of Hogwarts. Do either of you know who the headmaster is now?" Peter put the card in his pocket, anxious to get as much information as he could about the wizarding world from these guys. They seemed nice, if not really hyper, but he just chalked it up to eating one too many Chocolate Frogs.   
  
    "Dumbledore," Sirius said, "I don't know much about him really. His frog card said he helped vanquish some dark wizard Grindywindy or something. Eh, whatever. Hey James…" James had been staring out the window at the passing countryside. Sirius kicked his shin to get his attention.   
  
    "What?" he asked slightly annoyed.  
  
    "5 galleons that I get sent to the Headmaster's office first," he had a bit of a wicked grin on his face. James grinned. Peter noticed it was a slightly lopsided grin, almost a smirk, but he was already betting all the first year girls would notice it too.   
  
    "Make it 10 and you're on. Want in on this, Pete?" he turned towards Peter.   
  
    "I'm pretty sure you'll both beat me there," he said quietly. "But what happens if you both wind up there at the same time?"   
  
    Sirius laughed, "It seems our new friend here has just figured out the most likely possibility. Want to put 10 on that, Pete?" Peter looked from the boy with the smirking grin to the boy with the mischievous twinkle in his eye and was suddenly certain that they would end up there together. He also realized that if stuck around with them, he'd probably wind up there with them. He knew his parents would go nuts if they received owls at home saying he had detention, but something about these two boys made him want to hang out with them.   
  
    "It'll be the easiest 10 galleons I've ever made," he said confidently and they all shook on it.   
  
    The Hogwarts Express continued to wind its way through the countryside and before long it was in a dark forest. Peter was starting to get really nervous. He had this stupid idea in his head that he was going to get to Hogwarts, step off the train and one of the teachers was going to go up to him and tell him they'd made a mistake, he didn't really belong there, put him back on the train and send him home. He was rather surprised to notice that the closer they got to the school, the quieter even James and Sirius were getting.   
  
    For the most part of the ride, James and Sirius had been filling him in on various wizarding customs. They even seemed interested in some Muggle things, but the compartment was becoming quieter and quieter. Finally there was a knock on the door. Sirius scrambled for his wand and muttered, "Alohomora". Then he quickly shoved his wand back into his robes and said "Come on in" in a tone of voice that would've made any adult give the room a quick second glance to see what they'd been up to. A tall girl, already in her school robes opened the door and told them they'd better get dressed; the train was nearing the school and then continued on to the next compartment.  
  
    Peter gave Sirius a glance, as though to ask what this 'aloha' stuff had been about.  
  
    "Not really supposed to lock the doors and all on the train," he told Peter. Then the three boys quietly stood up and began rooting around through all their stuff. "These yours, Pete?" Sirius asked quietly, most of the humor gone from his voice, as he handed over a pair of school robes.   
  
    Peter nodded and accepted them. "Might want to straighten your tie, James," he said while he finished attaching the clasp of his robes. James nodded, looking rather pale.   
  
    "I heard there are four different houses… how… how do they decide which ones you go into?" Peter asked quietly, "What's the difference between them?" He hoped the other two would start talking again and they all might be distracted for a few minutes until the train stopped.   
  
    "Well there's Slytherin," Sirius began and he and James both made a face, "my whole family has been to Hogwarts and nearly every one of them was a Slytherin but if that's the house I wind up in, I'm getting right back on the train. They're a bunch of jerks. The house was founded by Salazar Slytherin, the man was a madman. Hated Muggle born witches and wizards. They put way too much value on pure blood there."  
  
    "Then there's Ravenclaw, I don't think that would be so bad. Most of the witches and wizards in there are really smart."   
  
    Peter shook his head sadly, "I doubt I'll be in there then. I'm pretty slow."   
  
    James looked over at his new friend, "I doubt you're as dumb as you seem to think you are. Anyway, there's a lot more to a good wizard that just book smarts."  
  
    "Ahem," Sirius cleared his throat dramatically, apparently getting into the role of information giver to the uninformed little Muggle born wizard. "As I was saying, the Ravenclaws, they're a pretty smart bunch. Then there's the Hufflepuffs. A lot of people say they're not all there, if you know what I mean, but I'd take Hufflepuff over Slytherin any day. They're generally a pretty nice bunch. Not the most intelligent or brave, but they're loyal. And then there are the Gryffindors." Both he and James smiled almost wistfully. "That's the house we're hoping for. Gryffindors are known for being really brave, they're pretty smart too. I guess that's about it."  
  
    "I'm going to be a Hufflepuff," Peter said and pressed his balled up hands to his cheeks, resting his elbows on his knees. "I know it."   
  
     "Well, that's not so bad. I think one of my great Uncles was a Hufflepuff," James said, "We didn't disown him or anything… but most of my family has been in Gryffindor. I'm convinced I'm going to wind up in Slytherin and then my family will disown me. Really though, if I do get sorted into there, I think Sirius's got the right idea… I'm coming back to the train and going home."   
  
    "So how do they sort you? I mean, they're just meeting us, they can't possibly know who is evil and who's brave and who's smart and who's loyal…" Peter trailed off, horribly worried that he didn't fit any of these categories. All of a sudden there was a screeching of brakes and the train slowed to a halt. The three boys all looked at one another. Any onlooker would've been completely incapable of telling you who looked paler. The doors opened and the boys spilled out onto the platform.   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    "Firs' years, firs' years this way… firs' years…" an impossibly large man was yelling from the other side of the platform. Peter, James and Sirius gave one last glance back at the train and made their way over to the man. "Firs' years! All here? Right then, let's go." With that, he started down a slope towards a lake where a dozen or so boats were floating. "Four to a boat then, alright there? Four to a boat, on wit ya's, come on…" Peter, James and Sirius all climbed into the same boat along with another boy. None of them spoke. The boats washed up on shore and, in the same eerie silence, they all climbed out and made their way up to the massive castle.   
  
    Once in the foyer, Peter leaned over to James, "Exactly how do they sort us??" he asked, very nervous.   
  
    James looked right at him and said slowly, "I have no idea." Peter looked over questioningly towards Sirius.   
  
    "I've heard rumors of fighting a werewolf and a troll… but there's just no way… they wouldn't make us… how could they make…" he trailed away looking rather uneasy.   
  
    At that moment a tall witch with a look that clearly said she was not one to mess with stepped into the massive foyer. Behind the boys, a first year girl whispered excitedly to someone next to her, "That's my Aunt Minnie."   
  
    The witch cleared her throat, "First Years, please follow me in groups of two, single file now. That's right." She walked past them all and up to the front of the group. Sirius and James fell into line right in front of Peter who found himself next to a young witch who looked quite ready to throw up. She was muttering to herself and Peter could barely make it out but it seemed to go along the lines of, "It can't be a troll, it just can't, we're first years… Muggle born, I have no idea what a troll even looks like… or werewolves? But there's no full moon tonight… oh my goodness, oh my goodness… trolls, werewolves…" She continued this tirade all the way up to the front of the Great Hall where Peter was ecstatic to find neither a troll nor a werewolf. He nudged the girl, "You can open your eyes, there are no trolls or werewolves…" Then he looked around. The whole school seemed to be assembled to watch them. His level of ecstasy plummeted as he realized the whole school would be there to witness whatever humiliation was bound to happen. He'd been so occupied with the muttering girl next to him and then all the people sitting at the four long tables that he hadn't even noticed the old hat sitting on the stool or the fact that it had begun singing.   
  


_…Hufflepuffs, the loyal and true,  
Then there is brave Gryffindor,   
Who have the urge to help and defend in their core,   
Founded by Sir Godric,   
Bravery they find, is their best trick,   
So sit down now and have no fear,   
For I am only a hat, my dear,   
And for your future of the next seven years,  
I'll sort you out, let's have no tears._

  
  
    All the students sitting out at the four tables were clapping but Peter was still too scared to move. He'd missed the beginning of the song! What if there was some kind of important instructions in there? The witch that had led them in unrolled a long scroll and began to call people up to the stool.   
  
    "Alberts, Norton." A small boy with bright red hair walked up to the stool and sat down. He picked up the hat and put it on his head with trembling hands. A few seconds later, the slit in the brim widened and out came "Hufflepuff!" and the boy jumped up and ran over to the table, second from the wall to Peter's left, full of clapping people.  
  
    "Black, Bellatrix." In front of him Peter saw Sirius shake his head, as though sad to be related to her. The hat barely touched her head before it screamed out "Slytherin!"   
  
    "Black, Narcissa." Peter saw Sirius make the same gesture he had before. The young girl walked up to the stool and sat down. The hat took almost a full minute before yelling out "Slytherin!" and she walked over to the table all the way to the right.   
  
    "Black, Sirius." Peter looked over to his new friend and saw James squeeze his arm before he walked over. He sat down on the stool and pulled the hat over his head. About fifteen seconds later the brim opened wide and the word "Gryffindor!" reverberated through the hall. Sirius jumped up to run over to the table, forgetting to take the hat off. Good naturedly he turned around and turned it over to the next name that had been called. The list continued for a while ("Crabbe, Alfred"- Slytherin "Denezyuk, Melissa"- Gryffindor).  
  
    "Evans, Lily." A pale girl with brilliant red hair ran up to the stool and Peter recognized her as the girl who'd been muttering about werewolves and trolls a few minutes ago. "Gryffindor!" She ran over and sat down at the same table as Sirius.   
  
    "Fudge, Cedric" "Hufflepuff!"  
  
    "Goyle, David" "Slytherin!"  
  
    "Longbottom, Frank" "Gryffindor!"  
  
    "Longbottom, Rebecca" "Gryffindor!"  
  
    "Lupin, Remus" A boy with light brown hair approached the stool. Peter had passed his compartment on the train looking for a place to sit, but he'd been sleeping. Peter didn't want to bother him, so he had continued on. By the time Peter remembered all that, the hat had shouted "Gryffindor!" and Peter saw Remus run over and sit next to that Evans girl.   
  
    "Malfoy, Lucius" The hat didn't even touch his head before it screamed "Slytherin!" and the boy, the same one who'd stepped on James and Sirius's Chocolate Frog strolled proudly over to the Slytherin table.   
  
    "McGonagall, Trixie" "Ravenclaw!"  
  
    "Nott, Frederick" "Slytherin!"   
  
    "Ollivander, Mary" "Ravenclaw!"  
  
    "Path, Lynne" "Hufflepuff!"   
  
    "Pettigrew, Peter" Peter looked up in a bit of shock. He felt his legs moving towards the stool, but had no recollection of telling them to do so. He felt his hands grab the hat but didn't remember telling them to.   
  
    _Oh my, what to do with you? I've never had a Pettigrew before. There's quite a bit of cunning in here, oh my yes. Slytherin would be just the place to put that to use. What's this? You don't want to be a Slytherin? Hmmm… I rarely get, or take, for that matter, requests. However, you seem to be a rather loyal chap, when it suits you to be one… you'd fit in with the Hufflepuffs then. Hmmm… you seem to want to stay with your friends, at least that's the signal I'm getting here. Well… friends do have quite an influence over what you do here. If you're sure, better be…_   
  
    "Gryffindor!" Peter jumped up and put the hat back on the stool. He made his way over to Sirius in complete and total shock he'd been put in the house known for its bravery. He couldn't believe it. Any second now, the Headmaster was going to grab him and tell him to go sit at Hufflepuff or Slytherin since that's where the hat thought he should go.   
  
    "Way to go, Pete!" Sirius said and slapped him on the back. The two of them sat there now, waiting for James's name to be called.   
  
    "Port, Alexandra" "Slytherin!"  
  
    "Potter, James" The hat took all over five seconds to scream out "Gryffindor!" and a thoroughly relieved James sat down across from Peter and Sirius. The three of them turned to watch the rest of the sorting.   
  
    "Smith, Alice" "Gryffindor!"  
  
    "Smith, Melody" "Hufflepuff!"  
  
    "Snape, Severus" At this point Sirius poked Peter and said, "That was the grease ball with Malfoy on the train. I'd bet you any number of galleons he's Slytherin." Just as he said that the hat yelled out "Slytherin!" "Aha, knew it."   
  
    "Umbridge, Dolores." "Slytherin!"  
  
    "Zark, Isabella" "Slytherin!" With that the witch who'd been running the Sorting rolled up her scroll and took the stool and hat away. The man sitting in the middle of the table at the head of the hall stood up. He looked very old but there was something about him that made Peter, James and Sirius quite sure they never wanted to be on his bad side.   
  
    "Welcome to Hogwarts," the wizard said with a sweep of his arms. "I am Professor Dumbledore. I'm sure you're all quite starving; however I need to give some notices before the start of term. The Forbidden Forest is, of course, forbidden." As soon as the word forbidden had exited his lips James and Sirius exchanged very excited looks and Peter, catching this exchange, rolled his eyes. "For the knowledge of the First Years: at the end of year banquet we will award a House Cup, you can keep track of the progress in the hourglasses outside the Great Hall. While you are here you will earn and loose points for your house based upon your behavior." Sirius and James exchanged another look and Peter knew that if there was any way to run a house into a negative amount of points, the two of them were going to find it. "Well, I suppose that's all… well, except for Quagmire Aboundment." The three looked at each other somewhat perplexed at these last words until they realized that suddenly the empty tables were laden with food.   
  
    The three ate to their fill until the food disappeared and the prefects made their way forward to collect the first years and usher them to Gryffindor tower. James, Sirius and Peter, quite exhausted by this time followed quietly. The prefect led them through the school, to the tower, where the portrait of the Fat Lady was hanging and told them all that the password "Immadazzle" and pointed the girls and boys towards their separate dormitories. Without another word to anyone the three boys walked up the stairs and collapsed into their respective beds. 


	2. Oh what have you three gotten yourselves...

    The following morning it was pouring rain. Peter drew back the curtains on his four poster bed and looked around. Next to him was the bed that James had tumbled into the night before now had all the curtains tied back. The bed had the comforter drawn back over it but Peter could tell from all the lumps that the sheets were probably still in disarray and the pillows were just tossed towards the headboard. His chest lay at the foot of his bed and on top of it were several textbooks and what appeared to be an empty messenger bag. However, James was nowhere to be seen. Peter looked at the bed next to James's and found it in a complete state of disarray the curtains were tied back but the comforter, pillows and sheets were in shambles, there was a foot locker at the base of the bed and robes, ties and books oozes from it and spilled out onto the bed. Although Peter hadn't seen where Sirius had wound up last night, he was pretty sure that that was his bed. He couldn't be sure though as Sirius wasn't in bed either. A second later he heard noise coming from the small bathroom the five boys would share.   
  
    "Potter, if you don't give me that hairbrush right now… like you could even do anything with that ratty head of your."   
  
    "Sirius, if you don't leave me alone, I swear, I'll drop your toothbrush in the toilet."  
  
    "Give me my hairbrush."   
  
    "It's going, I'll even flush too."  
  
    "Don't you dare, James!" Peter chuckled to himself and his eyes widened a bit when he heard a flush followed by a fit of laughter. From across the room he saw a pair of hands fumbling with the curtains around the bed. A bedraggled reddish brown haired boy was trying to tie them back. Peter stood up, walked over and helped him.  
  
    "Thanks. Can't quite think straight in the morning," the boy muttered to him. "I'm Frank Longbottom. Do you know who those two gits making all the noise are?" The boy was swinging his legs out of bed as he said this.   
  
    "I'm Peter Pettigrew. James Potter and Sirius Black are the gits I think you're referring to." Peter walked to the other side of the bed to help Frank straighten out the sheets and comforter. After this brief exchange, Frank began to root around in his trunk for his clothing and Peter crossed back to his side of the room and made his bed, rather lumpily and the comforter was crooked… but it was made. He sat down in the middle of the bed, figuring it best to wait until Sirius and James finished in the bathroom, rather than risking his own toothbrush receiving an unwelcome bath. He looked over to the fifth bed in the room, the one to his left. Its occupant was apparently still asleep and for the life of him, Peter could not remember the boy's name. James came out of the bathroom, still chuckling a minute later and, not looking where he was going, smashed into Frank. "Oh, hello. I'm James. Nice to meet you," he stuck his hand out and Frank, still looking extremely disheveled and slightly confused muttered something along the lines of "Frank Longbottom, nice to meet you" and shuffled off to the bathroom, bumping into the doorframe on his way in.   
  
    James ran his hand through his hair, "Hmm, clearly not a morning person. Hey, Pete!" He jumped onto Peter's bed. "Ready for classes today? I can't wait. We get to take classes in transfiguration. I hear it's really hard, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it. Mr. Ollivander told me my wand was especially good for it when he sold it to me." Peter just stared back blankly, while he wasn't necessarily not a morning person, he'd never met someone with so much energy right away before. A second later Sirius came flying out of the bathroom.   
  
    "Not much of a morning one, is he?" Sirius said with a gesture towards the bathroom door. As Peter had predicted, Sirius dropped a towel into the already chaotic area near his bed.  
  
    "I'm not so sure Pete is either," James said as he smirk and got off Peter's bed to go sit by his own and rummage through the schoolbooks sitting at the end.  
  
    "Well, alright then, so it's me and you and Pete here and then there's Frank… who's the other person we're stuck with for the next seven years?" James asked, looking over at the bed with the closed curtains.   
  
    "Hmmmm," said Sirius tapping his chin, "Shall we wake them up? I mean, it'd be a shame if they slept through breakfast…" he had a certain glint in his eye.   
  
    "Oh yes, such a shame. Care to be an aide, Pete?" James said as the two began to advance on the bed with the closed curtains.   
  
    "Oh no, leave me out of this," Peter said, he then quickly gathered up a towel, toothbrush and hairbrush and made a beeline for the bathroom.   
  
    "On the count of three then, Sirius?" James asked. Sirius nodded. James cocked his head, "Three." The two sprang through the curtains yelling "Wake up, wake up, sleepyhead!" "Time to get up!" and various other nonsensical phrases. All of a sudden there was a loud growl that even caused Peter and Frank to look up from the sinks in the bathroom.   
  
    "Just so you know," Sirius popped his head into the bathroom, "dorm mate number five is _clearly_ not a morning person."   
  
    A few minutes later the four boys left their dorm to head down to the Great Hall, figuring that their fifth roommate would prefer to have a bit of a lie in.   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    A few minutes after the last footsteps retreated down the steps, the curtains to the fifth bed parted and a small brown haired boy crawled forward on his knees to tie back the front ones. He was in a particularly bad mood since two of his new roommate had just attacked him out of a dead sleep. He looked around and saw that the room was deserted. Climbing out of bed, he reached over to his trunk marked Remus Lupin and grabbed his robes and uniform and wandered into the bathroom. It wasn't big. There were two toilet stalls, two shower stalls and three sinks, still it would work for five of them. For the first time the boy smiled, he was a part of something. He dressed quickly and headed downstairs realized that he should apologize to the two boys who jumped him and warn them that he was definitely not a morning person.  
  
    Remus neatly made his bed and closed his trunk. Then he walked out to the stairs, closed the door and descended into the Common Room. A few people were sitting around, but he made his way over to the portrait hole. He could see the girl who'd been muttering about battling a werewolf the previous evening talking to two other girls as they made their way to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the girls dormitories. The memory amused him. He climbed through the portrait hole and looked around realizing he wasn't entirely sure how to get to the Great Hall. He started off down the hallway and made a left at the fork. A few feet later he realized he'd found the library, but that was of no use to him at the moment. He turned and nearly ran into a girl who was wearing a Ravenclaw uniform. "Do you know where the Great Hall is?" he asked.   
  
    She shook her head, "I'm looking for it too. I have no idea how I wound up here. I must've walked past it at some point. We can look together if you want?" She looked over to him.   
  
    "Sure. My name's Remus Lupin," he said and looked over at her, starting off down the hallway.   
  
    "I'm Trixie McGonagall."   
  
    "Like the professor?" he asked.   
  
    She smiled. "That's my Aunt Minnie. Except I have to call her Professor McGonagall while we're here. Are you in Gryffindor? Well, I suppose that's a stupid question, I mean you are wearing Gryffindor robes."  
  
    "Yea," he answered. All this talking so early in the morning was getting to him, but he couldn't exactly ditch her until they got to the Great Hall. "You're a Ravenclaw?"  
  
    "Yup, my aunt is the Gryffindor Head of House, so I was hoping to be a Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw is good too. I heard you have to be pretty smart to get put there. My house won the House Cup for the last three years, but the Gryffindors beat us for the Quidditch Cup last year. Anyway, that's what one of the third years told me at the feast last night. Do you play quidditch? What's your favorite team? I want to be a Chaser someday on the house team, I hope anyway."   
  
    Remus had no idea how to respond. He'd lost track of which question was which five questions ago and had very little interest in quidditch. Fortunately at that moment, the two of them rounded a corner and the Great Hall came into view. "Great we found it, well… I'll see you later, Trixie." With that he ran off to go find a seat at his table. He looked around and spotted one of the boys who'd jumped on his bed, the one with the messy hair. He was sitting with two others, a boy with blonde hair, who Remus though was named Peter, but wasn't entirely sure and another boy whose name escaped Remus entirely. He glanced around for Frank, whom he had sat with at the feast last night, but saw him sitting with his sister and some of her friends, and while Remus would've rather sat there, he went over to apologize for snapping, or had it been growling, he couldn't even remember anymore, at them.   
  
    "Hi, can I sit with you guys?" The three faces peered up at him.   
  
    The blonde one responded immediately, "Of course" and moved over a bit to give Remus some more room.   
  
    Remus looked up, "Sorry for growling at you this morning. I'm really not much of a morning person. My mother says she's rather wake up a rabid dog while covered in dog food than me."  
  
    Sirius looked up from the porridge he was eating, "I can sympathize with her." He and James smiled and held out their hands. "Sirius Black."  
  
    "James Potter."  
  
    Remus shook both their hands. "Remus Lupin."   
  
    Peter turned to look at him, "Peter Pettigrew, but my hands are covered in jam so I think it's best to stick with nice meeting you."   
  
    Remus laughed, "Nice meeting you." He pulled over a piece of toast to butter while Peter wiped his hands on his napkin trying to get all the jam off. A few pieces of paper game their way and James grabbed them.   
  
    "Schedules. Niiice. Here Pete… Sirius… and Remus," he handed them their schedules, took his own and passed the pile to the girl next him. "Yes! Double transfiguration right after breakfast! I can't wait."   
  
    Sirius rolled his eyes. "There is definitely something wrong with you my friend, definitely."  
  
    Remus looked at his schedule, "Potions this afternoon, I always though that would be a fun class."   
  
    Sirius and James both made faces. "Yea, it might be a fun class if they didn't have the spawn of all evil teaching it. Professor Nackle is head of Slytherin House. He totally favors his own students and _hates_ Gryffindors," James said.   
  
    Remus and Peter both made faces. "Great," muttered Peter glancing down at his schedule. "At least the rest of the day is free after that… well, I guess if we want to be on time, we should get going if we want to be on   
  
    "Professor McGonagall teaches that, does she?" asked Remus. James nodded. "I heard she's a bit strict. I met her niece on my way down here today." At the mention of a girl, Sirius's head perked up.   
  
    "Her niece goes here, eh? Is she cute?" he asked.  
  
    "She wasn't ugly," Remus answered without much thought.   
  
    "Oi vey…" James shook his head, grabbed his bag of book and started towards the door.   
  
    "Whatta ya mean, oi vey? I mean, Remmy here could be getting pally with a real babe. It's necessary to find out these details…" Sirius was saying as he grabbed his books and a piece of toast to follow James.   
  
    Remus and Peter looked at one another. It seemed to them that they'd suddenly reached a point… to get up and follow the other two, mocking Sirius's girl crazy attitude or to sit there and finish their breakfast. Remus gave Peter a quick smile and grabbed both their book bags. "Can't exactly let those two lunatics loose on their own, can we?" and handed Peter his own bag.  
  
    Peter shrugged. "Guess that wouldn't be wise," and accepted his bag. The two headed out of the hall to catch up with the other two.   
  


~*~*~

  
  
    "You know, they really need maps for this place," Sirius said as the four of them headed down the wrong corridor yet again. They were late for potions again and Nackle was really going to let them have it. On their first Monday, Peter had somehow accidentally melted his cauldron while brewing a really easy potion. Nackle had been convinced they'd be screwing around and taken ten points from Gryffindor. To top it off, when the cauldron melted the potion had wound up all over Remus's feet, which then proceeded to swell to nearly five times their normal size. It had taken both Peter and Sirius to get him to the hospital wing while James stayed behind to clean up all their cauldrons. Their following lessons hadn't gone much better. Even more to their dismay, Nackle clearly favored his own house, which they had potions with. His favorites seemed to be Malfoy and Snape. One look over to their little corner though and it was clear Malfoy had no idea what he was doing. Snape would sit there and whisper help to Malfoy for the entire class period and Professor Nackle couldn't care less, but if he heard the tiniest whisper from Remus to Peter he'd dock points from Gryffindor quicker than you could say "quidditch".   
  
    "That's not a bad idea, Sirius. I'll get right on it. I'm sure a map for a school where the passages and stairways move and there are hidden doors and walls at every turn would be ever so easy to chart," Remus said sarcastically. They were on their seventh week of classes. The four of them had quickly and easily fallen into a tight friendship. It was already becoming evident in classes that James, Sirius and Remus were highly intelligent, amongst the top in the year. A few people were beginning to wonder what led them to hang out with Peter, but none of the others in the group realized that people were thinking that. The four of them were quite comfortable together.   
  
    "I think you've got something there, Remmy," James said as they finally found the entrance to the dungeon.   
  
    "About time," Peter mumbled under his breath and sped up to get to the potions classroom. The four entered and took seats as far back as possible. Remus and Peter sitting next to James and Sirius.   
  
    "Cauldrons, out. Quickly now. Today you will all be brewing the Horeshound Potion. Then take a flask and stopper it and leave it on my desk when you're done. The instructions are written on the board," Professor Nackle said, with a sweep of his wand, the words appeared on the chalkboard. "No talking. This is a test. You may begin."  
  
    The whole class looked like they'd been hit in the head with a brick. Suddenly there was a scurry to grab their cauldrons and collect the necessary ingredients. Twenty minutes or so later, Remus, James and Sirius had thick purple potions brewing. Sirius looked over to where Remus and Peter were working and saw Remus concentrating hard on his own potion without much trouble. However, Peter's potion had turned a sickly green. From where he was sitting he couldn't help Peter without getting them all in trouble. He kicked James under the table, who looked up a bit surprised, but when Sirius made a small gesture over to where Remus and Peter were sitting, James knew what he was getting at. He thought for a moment, leaned down and dug into his bag. He drew out what looked like a Gobstone and flung it at Remus, causing him to drop a handful of gillyweed into his cauldron. Remus let out a startled gasp as his potion suddenly began to bubble over the top and turn a violent shade of pink. He looked around quickly and saw James make an "I'm sorry" kind of face and gesture towards Peter, who was now trying to get both his and Remus's stuff out of the way of the overflowing cauldron. While all this was happening, Remus didn't notice the large bubble growing in the middle of the cauldron until it popped all over him.   
  
    James and Sirius both quickly stoppered a flask each of their potions and ran them up to Professor Nackle's desk, as they were sure they were going to have to escort Remus to the Hospital Wing again. Sure enough by the time they looked up both Peter and Remus were covered in a strange mixture of pink goo and what appeared to be turnips were growing out of their skin. The two were howling in pain and Nackle was paying no attention to them at all. James and Sirius both grabbed one of their arms each, careful to avoid the goo, and led them towards Madame Pomfry.   
  
    With Remus and Peter safely deposited in the Hospital Wing, James and Sirius went back to the dungeons to clean up all their stuff. By the time they had lugged it all back to their dormitory, the two boys realized they were going to be late for History of Magic and set off down the hall at a run.   
  
    "I told you we need a map of this place," Sirius said.   
  
    "You may have something there, but we really don't have time to draw one up right now," James said, panting as they turned around at their fourth dead end. As they were going around their fifth corner, they ran into Peter. "We were wondering when you two were going to 'turnip'". James and Sirius burst into gales of laughter.   
  
    "Oh shut up," Peter mumbled, still a slight tinge of purplish pink to his skin.   
  
    "Where's Remus?" Sirius asked peeking into another door. "What is this?" he asked almost indignantly. "I'm looking for a classroom and I find a room with a small pond and six duck walking around. _Why is there a room like this??_" He made a disgruntled noise and slammed the door shut. They continued on their way. "So Pete, where is Remmy?"   
  
    "Still in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfry kept him. He was looking kind of sick anyway… besides being covered in turnips and all…" Peter trailed off. "I think it's this way," he pointed left at the point where the corridor forked. The group followed him and found he was right. They slipped into their seats as Professor Binns droned on, not even noticing their entrance.   
  
    "Is he ok?" James leaned over to ask Peter, midway through the lesson.   
  
    "I don't think Binns was ever ok, I mean acute lack of a personality is definitely a terminal illness," Sirius said as he leaned forward from behind Peter.   
  
    "Not Binns," James whispered. "Remus, you said he didn't look well."  
  
    "I'm sure he's fine. He got hit by a lot more of the turnip potion, or whatever the heck that was, than I was," Peter whispered back the two of them. "I'm sure he'll be fine in time for double transfiguration, he hates to miss classes."   
  
    The rest of the class continued uneventfully, other than the occasional thud of a students head hitting the desk when they fell asleep. When the bell rang, Peter, James and Sirius headed down to the Great Hall, when they were nearly there, James suddenly changed directions.   
  
    "Where are you going?" Peter asked.   
  
    "I want to try and find the Hospital Wing, check on Remus," James said peering at the three different staircases all leading in opposite directions.   
  
    "It's this one, James," Peter said and beckoned for the other two to follow him. They followed Peter through the twisting passages out into a long narrow one until Peter opened a large door on the left side. "Madame Pomfry?" he asked tentatively.  
  
    A large woman with her hair pulled back in a tight bun came bustling forward. "Oh _what_ have you three gotten yourselves into _now_?" she nearly shrieked. The infirmary was bustling, apparently it was a busy day.   
  
    "Nothing at all, Madame. Honestly," Sirius stepped forward and the other two stepped back, knowing that when it came to charming disgruntled adults, the job was best left to Sirius. The same way the other two had known to step back and follow Peter, who had an uncanny sense of direction. Sirius continued, "we were just hoping to visit our friend Remus, he came here with Peter over there earlier today," he gestured at Peter, "we thought he might like to copy our History of Magic notes. He gets a little worried when he misses a class."  
  
    "Oh, well then. That's nice of you boys. He's in the last bed on the left side. Go on then," Madame Pomfry presented them with a rare, small smile. The three boys headed down the isle and pulled aside the curtain around Remus's bed. He was dozing off and the three boys could see he still had the same strange tint to his skin as Peter, but he was paler and looked like he was actually sick. When the curtain rattled a bit more for the three boys to go in around the bed, Remus opened his eyes. He looked surprised and displeased at the same time.   
  
    "You guys shouldn't be here. We have class. I'll see you all sometime tomorrow probably," he said.   
  
    "Tomorrow? I'm fine already. What's keeping you here?" Peter asked and sat down in the chair next to Remus's bed.   
  
    "Yea, come on Remmy. You'll miss transfiguration," Sirius said and plopped down on the bed.   
  
    "Speaking of classes, here are my History notes, if you want to copy them," James held out a parchment with his messy handwriting and doodles all over it.   
  
    Remus smiled, "Thanks, James. I'll copy it later."   
  
    "So why are you still here?" James asked and sat down next to Sirius. Then he pulled himself all the way onto the foot of the bed, turned and sat cross legged looking towards the other three.   
  
    "I've got a cold or something too. The turnip potion must've made it worse," Remus said quickly. "You should all go, or you might catch it."  
  
    "Well that's easy, Madame Pomfry can just give you a Pepper-Up Potion and you'll be fine. Tastes really nasty and you smoke from the ears for a while… but it works," Sirius said.   
  
    "Oh ummm… we tried that, so I guess it isn't a regular cold…" Remus was interrupted by the bell. "You guys have to go to class. Take good notes, so I can copy them later, ok?"  
  
    Sirius gave him a strange look, "Yea, sure, Remmy. We'll check on you again later, alright?"  
  
    "Nah, don't bother. I'll be fine really." Remus looked after the boys as they left. 


	3. Last week when you set my shoes on fire ...

    "His ears weren't smoking," Sirius said.  
  
    "Noticed that too, huh?" James replied.   
  
    "What on Earth are you two talking about?" Peter asked as they walked towards Professor McGonagall's class.   
  
    "Pepper-Up Potion makes you smoke at the ears for a few hours at least. If Remus took any, he's still have smoke coming out of his ears. Why won't he tell us what's wrong?" James said to the other two.   
  
    "Hmmm… a mystery," Sirius said with a sly glance towards the other two. James perked up immediately and grinned that crooked grin of his, that, by this time, Peter knew was a precursor to trouble. Peter just rolled his eyes.   
  
    "Hmmm… transfiguration first," Peter said and walked into the classroom.   
  
    "Right he is, Jamesy boy," Sirius said and followed Peter.  
  
    "_Don't_ call me that. You know I hate that," James intoned as he followed the other two.   
  
    "Ahem… as I was saying," Professor McGonagall continued, shooting a withering glance at the three chatting boys who were yet again late to her class, "today we will be working in pairs to change these dice to plates. Now everybody pair up and one of you come up here and get your dice. Points will be deducted if your plates have a spotted pattern similar to the dots on the die. Off you go."   
  
    The three boys looked at one another. This was the first time they'd had to do a project in pairs with one of them missing. Peter gulped. He knew Sirius and James would claim each other and he's have to find someone else to work with, but to his surprise James spoke up first.   
  
    "Jamesy, eh? Come on, Pete. Let's go sit over there. I'll get the dice," and with that the decision was made. The tone he'd implied 'Jamesy, eh?' with was clearly all in good humor, so Sirius just shrugged and looked around the room. He'd noticed Rebecca Longbottom hadn't been in class either, which meant one of the girls in her usual group must not have a partner either. With that he walked over to a pretty girl with blonde hair, Alice and Alicia or something… he was so bad with some of their names.  
  
    "Hey, you want to work together?" he asked her.   
  
    She shook her head, "Sorry, Sirius, but Lily and I are working together. I don't think Trixie has a partner yet though." She looked over at the girl with the messy blonde hair, who was known for being unusually talkative. She even looked a bit sad to have to send him off to her.   
  
    "Yea, thanks anyway…" he thought for a second and decided to chance it, "Alice."  
  
    "No problem, maybe next time," she said and turned to Lily Evans, who had already retrieved their dice while Alice and Sirius had been talking.   
  
    Sirius walked over to Trixie, who usually sat right up front by her aunt's desk. She turned around and enthusiastically waved him over.   
  
    "Well," he thought, "it could be worse. She could be a Slytherin. And she's plenty nice even if she does never shut up." With that thought, he pulled up a chair next to her and said, "Do you want to get the dice or should I?"  
  


~**~

  
  
    A little over two hours later the three walked out of the classroom, all rather content with the work they'd just done.  
  
    "Dinner, then?" Sirius asked.   
  
    "Let's go check on Remus, see if he won't tell us what's really wrong with him," James said.   
  
    "Maybe he's just homesick or something. I mean, if I got homesick, I'd never want the two of you to know. I'm sure you'd just make fun and if he is, he probably feels horrible already," Peter said, looking a little unsure of himself. He often felt like his opinions were kind of stupid compared to the other three's.   
  
    "Nah, he's already been here for nearly two months, how could he still be homesick?" Sirius said.   
  
    "Yea, but Pete's right. He might not tell us if it was something important, especially if he thought we'd just make fun of him. I mean we all know we wouldn't if it was important, but nothing important has ever come up before… so maybe we don't know. Does that make any sense?" James rambled as they made their way to the Hospital Wing.   
  
    "Scarily enough, it does," Sirius said. They turned the corner into the last corridor and went into the infirmary area. Madame Pomfry stopped them immediately.   
  
    "Remus isn't feeling well enough for visitors at the moment. You'll have to go now. He should be back to you all fine and in one piece tomorrow evening. Now, if you please," and she shut the door in their faces.   
  
    The three of them looked at one another rather shocked. Madame Pomfry definitely was not overly fond of any of them, but she'd never slammed the door in their faces either.  
  
    "Definitely a mystery," Sirius said with a smirk.   
  
    "A mystery??!?! I just hope he's alright," Peter said. "You two are unbelievable sometimes." Then he stormed off towards the Great Hall.   
  
    "What's gotten into him?" Sirius asked James sincerely.   
  
    James gave him a glance that could clearly be read as 'how-stupid-are-you', "Apparently, Peter is crazy enough to be worried when one of our best friends is so sick we can't even see him. I guess he finds that to be a little more important than a "mystery". Crazy him, huh?" James's voice was dripping with sarcasm.   
  
    "Well it's not like I don't care about Remus. Just he didn't look all _that_ sick. I think something's up. I'm worried too, okay? I'm sure he'll be fine. We'll just ask him tomorrow night," Sirius said. "Let's go find Peter, he's probably stuffing his face already down in the Great Hall."   
  


~**~

  
  
Later that evening, in the Common Room…   
  
    "Alright, at first I just thought McGonagall was a bit demanding, but now, I'm rather convinced she's the reincarnation of evil itself. Four feet of parchment on basic transfiguration charms? It can't be done," Sirius ranted as he dramatically draped his hand across his brow and fell onto the couch in front of the fire. James jumped up from his homework with a mock look of horror upon his face.   
  
    "Oh no, Peter, the horrors, the horrors," he said theatrically, joining in on his friend's fun. "Whatever will we do?" By this time the three boys had quite a few overworked students looking up from their homework, a few looking rather annoyed, but more than a few with wry smiles upon their faces.   
  
    Peter calmly looked up from the astronomy chart he was working on, seemed to ponder what to do, then lowered his head back to his chart, lifted his wand, pointed it at his 'unconscious' friend, muttered "_Aquato_" and went back to his work as a small stream of rather cold water arched itself from his wand right onto Sirius's face.   
  
    Sirius jumped up and James, along with several others in the room, burst into laughter. Slowly the laughter quieted down and Sirius picked up his quill.  
  
    He paused before jotting down his thoughts on his parchment, "Pete, when did you learn that charm?"   
  
    "Last week when you set my shoes on fire for the fourth time," he replied, rolling up his astronomy chart and grabbing his parchment of flobberworm observations.   
  
    James chuckled and began gathering up his stuff, "Well, I'm heading off to bed… double Potions first thing in the morning is not something I want to be half asleep for." With that he headed up towards the staircase to the boys dormitory.   
  
    "You know, Seer, if you hadn't spent those hours in the library looking up hexes to set me on fire and whatnot, you'd already be done with that transfiguration essay," Peter said as he began to gather up his books.   
  
    "You git, that was definitely time well spent. Did you see everyone's faces when I turned McGonagall's hair bright purple?"   
  
    "_You_ git, didn't you see your own face when she took 20 points from Gryffindor and gave you detention for a week?"   
  
    Sirius leaned back on his elbows, "Admittedly, an unforeseen complication. However, it was well worth it. Next time though, I'm aiming for Filch."   
  
    "Now that would be worth the points and detention."   
  
    "I'm well aware… but I think I'll come up with something better for him."  
  
    "Such as…?"  
  
    "Merlin knows. But it'll be good. Maybe Peeves will help me?"  
  
    Peter chuckled, "Peeves, help you? Yea, right, even a crazy marauder like yourself couldn't get Peeves to work with you."  
  
    "Marauder, eh? That's a good one Pete," he said, with a rare thoughtful look crossing his face. "You're aware of the definition of the work, I'm sure? Because if you looked into Filch's files, it would only confirm that _I_ am not the _only_ marauder. I believe your file is more extensive than the average First Years."  
  
    "Mine?" Peter said. "For Merlin's sake, by the time we graduate, you and James'll have a drawer all to yourselves."  
  
    "Well then buddy, I hate to break it to you, but that makes all three of us marauders," Sirius replied. "You know, I actually think it's an honor. Marauder… you know, that's not such a bad name for us."  
  
    "We need a name?" Peter asked, puzzled. "I have a name, Peter. I rather like it, thank you."   
  
    "No, no. A collective name, for James and me and you, all clubs have a name, it creates a bond sort of thing. And we are a good bunch of marauders."  
  
    "McGonagall will hate it."  
  
    "Perfect."  
  


~**~

  
  
    "I really can't believe Remus missed all those classes. Do you guys think he'll be in Herbology?" Peter asked as the three Marauders strolled across the grass towards Greenhouse Two.   
  
    James perked his head up, he and Sirius had been planning something by the looks on their faces; Peter could only hope the results wouldn't be directed at him. "Yea, I bet he will be."  
  
    "You thought he'd be in double Potions this morning too, and then Care of Magical Creatures, but he wasn't. This is the second time he's been sick already since we got to Hogwarts." Peter looked concerned.   
  
    "He just has a cruddy immune system," Sirius quipped at him. "Last one to the greenhouse is a smelly old sock. And I mean that literally, I've been working on this new curse…" His words trailed off as he took off at a run, James and Peter quickly following him.   
  
    Fortunately for Peter, who had come in last, when the three burst in the door they saw Remus standing over by their usual corner. The distraction saved him from Sirius's new curse.   
  
    "See Pete, I told you he'd be fine. Stop being such a ninny," Sirius sat down next to Remus and dumped his stuff all around him. James sat across from Sirius and Peter took the spot opposite Remus. Professor Sprout walked in and began the lesson on Venomous Algaphobes who were, quite oddly, not the least bit venomous. Shortly after her lecture the entire glass was wearing long, thick gloves and rooting through various aquariums full of water to try and discern Venomous Algaphobes from plain old algae.   
  
    Peter leaned over to Remus, "Are you sure you're ok? You still look pale and you're kinda scratched up."  
  
    "The whole turnip antidote had a bad effect," he replied quickly. "Guess I was allergic or something. And I tripped on my way out to the greenhouse."   
  
    Peter's face cleared up and he readily accepted this explanation. Sirius, however, had also overheard it and found it odd that last month Remus had had a reaction to an antidote also, causing him to spend the evening in the Hospital Wing… if his memory served him correctly, he had then claimed he had fallen on his way to Defense Against the Dark Arts the next day, leaving him all scratched up. He looked over at James who merely raised an eyebrow and shoved his hands deeper into the aquarium.  
  


~**~

  
  
    "Why are they grinning like that?" Remus asked Peter as they climbed through the portrait hole. The two had just returned from the Hospital Wing, since Madame Pomfry had requested that Remus check in with her after dinner. After leaving the Great Hall, James and Sirius had headed off to the Common Room, with Remus and Peter agreeing to meet them there in just a bit.   
  
    "I usually feel that when I don't know from the start, it's best not to know at all," Peter sighed. James and Sirius were sitting in their usual corner by the fire with their school work surrounding them. Remus was always amazed at the two of them. Upon meeting them and getting to know them a bit, he was absolutely certain they would both be the kind of students who never tried, never did homework, never studied, but always managed to get by. Instead, he came to learn that the two of them were neck in neck for top boys of the class in every class except for Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Even with Professor Nackle hating them both, they managed to receive top marks in Potions… provided they didn't cause any trouble and get kicked out of the class before homework was turned in. He glanced at his two friends and realized that this was one of the many things that all the other students didn't see. The rest of Hogwarts saw them as some crazy little group of First Years that loved to cause trouble. They never saw James quietly tutor Peter in Transfiguration or Sirius look over James's Care of Magical Creatures essays. The other students never saw the four of them at two in the morning quizzing one another for a History of Magic test. Suddenly Remus realized that he really was a part of the group. For some odd reason, this concept had eluded him since the first day he had met the other three, but he comprehended now that he'd been part of the group since that very first day. Not quite sure how to deal with this revelation, he sat down at the table James and Sirius had procured with a very dopey grin on his face and spread out his things.   
  
    James looked up and smirked that strange smile of his, "What're you smiling at, Remus?"   
  
    "Strange twists of fate…" he trailed off, still smiling a bit. "Want me to look over that essay of yours for DADA? You said the other day you weren't sure if you'd gotten everything."   
  
    "Yea, thanks Remmy. It's over there," he pointed to a pile of parchment. "Notes from the last few classes too."   
  
    Remus smiled. He was once again struck by this concept of friendship. The entire table was covered in parchments from all four of them, but Remus knew immediately which were James. His notes would be the orderly ones, with weird little arrows connecting things and the messy handwriting. They would be incredibly detailed, filled with things that would never appear on any test, most likely, but -just in case- James always tried to write down everything the teacher said. Right next to them was another copy of notes from the same class, these scrolls were covered in absolutely abysmal handwriting, always printed letters, never cursive, and there were lots of illustrations… the majority of the notes would actually make no sense to anyone but the lunatic that had written them- Sirius Black. Not too far away from those would be Peter's. The handwriting would be neat and the notes somewhat complete, but things were probably missing, nothing big or of vast importance, but some little side note. In the corner there were probably doodles of quidditch players or the view from wherever Peter had been sitting. Remus had been surprised to find that Peter was actually a phenomenal artist. Remus's own notes had their own flair to them too, of course. They were neat and orderly, with no doodles (of his own anyway, occasionally on any of their notes, there might be a little message written by the bored Marauder at the desk next to them up in a corner margin), close to perfect Palmer script in meticulous order. So meticulous that if they were too messy at the end of class, Remus was in the habit of recopying them so they were neat and orderly. All the while Remus had been contemplating this, his eyes had been scanning James's essay on lycanthropes. He had almost laughed out loud when the professor had announced they'd be studying dark beasts this term. He was startled back to reality when he saw James produce a small canister from his bag.   
  
    "Oh what now?" he asked and looked up, noticing Peter had temporarily disappeared.  
  
    "Nothing, Remmy, nothing at all… you just keep proofreading," Sirius said quietly, reaching for the small container Peter kept of saw dust to sprinkle on wet ink, causing it to dry quicker on the parchment.   
  
    Quick as a flash Remus had grabbed the canister from James. Neither James nor Sirius had expected such a reaction, both looked surprised but said nothing. Remus flipped the canister over and read the label- Parmesan Cheese. He could see where this was going and, at the moment, he was sick of being sensible, 'think quick and get the others out of trouble' Remus. He grabbed Peter's saw dust container and quickly emptied it into his own. By this point, James and Sirius had both grabbed their quills and gone back to their work, attempting to look as innocent as possible, which, oddly enough, they always seemed to manage to accomplish. He popped open the container of cheese and poured it in place of the saw dust, finishing off by placing it right back where Peter had left it, with the top partially screwed off. At that moment he heard footsteps and crammed the container with the remaining cheese under the table, where he felt someone, probably James, take it from his grasp. He went back to pretending to read James's essay.   
  
    Several minutes passed and nothing happened. Finally, Peter put down his quill and grabbed what he thought was saw dust, spreading it all over his paper. Then he dumped the remains back into the jar and started work on his next essay. Three scrolls of parchment and two hours later, Peter looked up at the others.   
  
    "Do you smell that?" he asked.   
  
    "Smell what?" Sirius asked, nearly growled, as he was in the middle of a particularly dull essay about goblin rebellions and their effects on the wild boars of Tanzenia.   
  
    "That… smell."   
  
    James looked at Peter and made a face, "Hey, whoever smelt it, delt it."  
  
    Sirius and Remus chuckled at the old joke.   
  
    "That wasn't what I meant. It smells… well, it does smell cheesey… but I didn't have any cheese at dinner," Peter was beginning to look a little confused. He looked to Remus for confirmation.   
  
    Remus shook his head, putting on a bewildered face.  
  
    "No, seriously guys, it smells weird down here."  
  
    "Then go up to the dormitory. What do you want us to do? We don't know any banishing spells for phantom smells that only seem to affect you," Sirius said, grabbing one of the History of Magic textbooks, not necessarily his, and checking the index for a cross-reference between wild boars and goblins.   
  
    "Are you guys serious?" Peter asked.   
  
    "No, I'm Sirius. That's James and that's Remus," he said pointing to each of them in turn as he spoke and flipped pages at the same time.  
  
    "You know, that was old by the second time we heard it, Sirius," Remus said, returning to his own DADA essay on lycanthropes.   
  
    "You know, I heard that in the Muggle world, smelling weird smells is like a precursor to a seizure or something like that. You're the Muggle born, Pete, is it true?" James asked innocently.   
  
    "For _old people, I'm young_," Peter said, a slightly hysterical tone to his voice.  
  
    "Well, maybe you'd best just get some sleep. I'm sure the smell will go away when you leave the room," Remus told him as he tried to stack his books neatly in order. "Where did my History book go?"   
  
    Sirius tapped the cover of the book he was still paging through. "This might be it. It's definitely not mine, I spilled a potion on my book bag, all my books have got blue pages now. Remus just shook his head and grabbed a different copy of the History of Magic text off the table. By the time this exchange was over, Peter had packed up his stuff and was walking off towards the dormitory. As soon as he disappeared out of sight, the three boys burst into gales of laughter.   
  
    Suddenly, James heaved forward a bit as though he's been smacked in the back on the head, his expression changed from one of extreme mirth to one of shock and a bit pain. He reached behind him and picked up a Transfiguration book. "What the…" he trailed off.   
  
    Before he could even finish his sentence, a very angry red head was standing next to him with her hands on her hips. From her appearance, Remus would've guessed she wasn't all there. It was nearing midnight, and most people had left the Common Room except for his friends and the group of girls studying over in the corner. Remus immediately placed her as Lily Evans, an incredibly intelligent girl, who, despite her intelligence, Remus still thought was a bit daft. He'd never forgotten overhearing her mumbling incessantly to herself the night of the sorting. At the moment she looked almost crazed, her hair was standing up at odd angles, clearly from running her hands through it a few too many times and her reading glasses, which Remus noticed she tried to avoid wearing, had slipped most of the way down her nose. Her tie from her uniform had actually, somehow, worked it's way around her neck until it hung down her back and her eyes, usually a very pretty shade of green, now had something a bit scary lurking behind them.   
  
    "If you idiotic dolts, would please _shut up_, we are trying to study for the Transfiguration exam on Monday. _Some of us like to pass our classes_," she snarled as she grabbed her book out of James bewildered clutch and stormed back off to her friends.   
  
    Remus looked over at the group. Lily sat back down and opened her book and her friend Melissa leaned back a bit too far from the bench she was sitting on, causing her to loose her balance and crash to the floor. The resulting crash made Rebecca Longbottom, Frank's twin sister, jump up, her head had been on the table and apparently she'd been asleep, since as she jumped up she yelled, "Don't pickle my toes! I need them!" in a rather terrified voice. Rebecca then shook her head said something to the rest of the table, grabbed her books and headed for the stairs to the girls dormitory. Remus found himself thinking that was a wise choice, and thought that maybe she should've dragged Lily with her. Lily had moved from yelling at James to telling Melissa off, apparently for daring to fall off the bench. Melissa just shook her head a bit and muttered something Remus couldn't quite hear to Lily, causing Cortessa Maris and Alice Smith to laugh and Lily to turn red and storm off in the direction Rebecca had just gone. Lily's reaction caused Tessa and Alice to stop laughing and shake their heads, but Melissa just shrugged and started gathering up her own things. Remus was surprised to see Melissa groggily make her way over to where the Marauders were sitting, James and Sirius still in a bit of shock over Lily's attack.   
  
    "Sorry about Lily, she's having a bit of trouble in the class and is completely spazzing over this silly little test. Bit of a perfectionist, she is. Consider yourselves lucky, at least she doesn't lecture _you_ every time you do something fun," Melissa addressed the group in general with a cynical, albeit groggy, smile, her hair and uniform in a similar state of dishevelment as Lily's had been. However, unlike when Lily had come over and scared the ghosts out of the boys, Remus found Melissa to be quite pleasant and suddenly the phrase, easy on the eyes, popped into his head. From where, he had no idea, but he dismissed it as just being tired. "Anyway, just wanted to say sorry. I'm sure she'll feel like a git in the morning." She turned to leaved and then turned back to James specifically, "Your head is alright, isn't it? She's got atrocious aim, but when she does land a blow if hurt's like bloody hell."  
  
    James looked very confused. Apparently dealing with two girls in the span of ten minutes, while rather sleepy, did not go over well with his brain. "I… fine. I'm fine. Didn't hurt a bit."   
  
    "Oh," Melissa said. "Good… Goodnight, then." She turned and left the room.   
  
    "Well, this has been an odd night. I think sleep would be a good next on the agenda," Sirius said. The three began to gather up quills, books and parchments, not even paying attention to whose was whose. Remus was somewhat amused to see James rubbing the back of his head lightly as the three walked up the steps to their dormitory.   
  
    When they opened the door, they could hear the tell tale signs of Frank's snoring. Remus tripped over Peter's school bag with all his books and parchments in it and swore quietly. Remus went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and when he got back to the room, James and Sirius were already in their beds, curtains drawn. Remus climbed into bed and pulled the curtains.   
  
    As he was settling back into his pillows a quiet voice broke through the silence.   
  
    "Guys, are you still awake?" It sounded a bit worried.   
  
    A grunt came from Sirius's direction, James managed a somewhat coherent 'uh-huh', while Remus muttered 'whattayawantPete' all as one long slurred word.   
  
    "I think I might be really sick. You guys might have been right." At the words really sick, Remus woke right up and he was pretty sure that behind all the curtains James and Sirius had too.   
  
    "Really sick? Are you alright, Pete?" Remus was halfway out of bed, and noticed the same stirring movements in the curtains from James and Sirius's beds before Peter replied.  
  
    "That smell… it followed me. I can still smell it up here."   
  
    Remus took one look at the bag containing all the cheese covered parchments sitting at the end of Peter's bed and burst into laughter. A second later it hit the other two and the three climbed back into bed laughing madly, while Peter let out an agonized groan, followed by a couple of threatening comments.   
  
    "Welcome to the Marauders, Remus," Sirius muttered from his bed.   
  
    "Always wanted to raid and plunder," he replied very sleepily.  
  
    "Jolly good," James said thickly.   
  
    "Just you three wait until tomorrow," Peter grumbled quietly.   
  
    "Would you idiots please shut up? Some of us are trying to sleep here," Frank hissed from across the room.   
  
    A few minutes later all four Marauders were asleep.   
  



	4. Reginald Darkfeld

    "I still really don't understand all this Quidditch stuff," Peter mumbled at Sirius and James. The Marauders had procured seats in the front row of their House's box for the first game of the Quidditch season: Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. James and Sirius had been talking nonstop about the upcoming game for the last three weeks and it was finally here. Peter had been excited to see his first game, but he quickly realized that he had no idea what was going on. James and Sirius was both on some sort of Quidditch high, making them both incapable of normal speech, occasionally they'd start telling Peter a rule or two, but then some Catcher or Chooser or whatever they were called would do something important and they'd both turn back to they'd both turn back to the game. Peter was sure Remus would know exactly what was going on and he'd be able to explain it clearly, but he'd been immersed in some book all day, which he had brought out to the stadium with him and was continuing to read even now as the game was carried out around him. Finally Peter gave up.  
  
    "What're you reading, Remus?" Peter asked him. It took Remus a moment to look up.   
  
    "Little Women," he said, rather quietly.   
  
    "Little what?" Peter asked surprised.   
  
    "It's this Muggle book…" he muttered.   
  
    "Well I know that. What're you doing with a Muggle book? And that one, of all books?" Peter retorted.   
  
    Remus went slightly red and looked very glad that Sirius and James were so preoccupied with the Quidditch game. He'd quickly learned that you could get little past the two of them, but one sure fire distraction was Quidditch. "I borrowed it from a friend."   
  
    "Yea right, Remus. Like Sirius or James just had a copy of Little Women sitting in their trunks, waiting for someone to ask to borrow it."   
  
    "You do realize, Peter," Remus said, slightly miffed, "that I do have more friends than just the three of you."   
  
    Peter looked affronted. "Well yea, I…" Peter stopped. "Actually, I didn't."   
  
    Remus looked at him and cocked his head to the side a bit. Peter never ceased to surprise him. It was almost like he didn't know when to lie and when to tell the truth and his mind often mixed up the signals. When most people would've given Remus some sort of affirmation that yes, they were well aware he had other friends, whether or not he really did, Peter opted to tell the truth. He did that all the time, but it always surprised Remus.   
  
    "So then, who lent you this?" Peter asked, honestly interested. Another difference between Peter and James and Sirius, Remus thought, was that Peter just wanted to know. He didn't plan on being judgmental in the least. James and Sirius, if they knew the whole story, would mock him mercilessly.  
  
    Remus put the chad of parchment that he'd been using as a bookmark in place and closed the book. He looked over to make sure Sirius and James were occupied. "Alright, I'll tell you, but don't laugh. And for Merlin's sake, don't tell them." He gestured at the other two Marauders. Peter nodded, interested, as always, in gossip. "I borrowed it from Trixie McGonagall."  
  
    "So you like Trixie?" he asked, his eyes wide.   
  
    "No. Trixie's my _friend_. Just a friend. Merlin's ghost, she talks so much, it's next to impossible to get a word in edgewise. I don't think I'd ever be able to deal with liking her. But there is this girl…" he trailed off. Remus knew this wasn't the best idea, to tell his friends. Girls could gossip about boys to one another until their bloody heads exploded and they'd all keep one another's secrets till the grave. But as a guy, you mention even the tiniest inkling that you thought a girl was attractive and the entire House would know in less than an hour.   
  
    "So…" Peter prompted, both of them now glancing over at James and Sirius who were still entranced by the Quidditch game.   
  
    "So… she really likes this stupid book. I overheard her talking about it to one of her friends. So I thought maybe if I read it, I could start a conversation with her about it. But it was a ridiculous idea. I mean, the book is well written, but I couldn't care less about these stupid girls. There is no way girls are really like this? I mean all four of these girls are complete opposites. It's like four different breeds. If each girl is really that different from the next, then we're screwed, Pete. I mean, one of the girls in here, Meg, would be on cloud nine if you brought her flowers. Well, Amy and Beth, too, I guess. But if you brought Jo flowers, she'd probably lecture you on feminist rights and turn them into potpourri right in front of your eyes. So if you get a Meg, or an Amy or Beth, you're fine, but what if you think you get one of them and you picked a Jo? How disturbing is that?"   
  
    Peter looked at Remus like he had two heads. Remus realized that he was ranting and babbling. "Did that make any sense?"   
  
    Peter look at him thoughtfully, "You want to read this book so you can talk to some girl about it?"  
  
    "Yes."  
  
    "That's all I understood."  
  
    "Well… that was basically the point," Remus shifted uncomfortably. He looked over at the scoreboard. Hufflepuff was in the lead seventy to thirty. He suddenly hoped that someone would catch the Snitch soon so he'd have a good excuse to get away from Peter and this stupid conversation.   
  
    "So who's the girl?" Peter asked, with the look of someone just dying to know information that most people don't.   
  
    Remus smiled, "Absolutely none of your business."   
  
    "I don't know any girls name Meg, Amy, Beth or Jo," Peter commented. "I think there's an Eliza_beth_ Fortescue, who I think is a… Hufflepuff? Or Josephine MacDonald, she's a Ravenclaw, right? Or is…"  
  
    Remus cut him off," Those were just the names of the characters in the book. Not the girl here, at Hogwarts."  
  
    "Oh, oka-" Peter got cut off as a cheer went up from the Hufflepuff side of the crowd and a collective groan from the Gryffindor side as the Hufflepuff Seeker caught the Snitch and ended the game with a final score of two hundred and forty to fifty.   
  
    "Did you see that dive?" James asked excitedly to no one in particular.   
  
    "I know, she was so close! If she hadn't fallen off her bloody broom," Sirius said angrily. "Can you believe that?" He looked at Peter and Remus. Peter looked bewildered, but Remus, as usual, just shrugged and grabbed his book as the four made their way back up to the Gryffindor Common Room.   
  


~**~

  
  
    The following day when James woke up, the others were all downstairs already. He got up and dressed in Muggle clothes, all the while thinking that there was just nothing in the wizarding world that compared to an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He pulled a school robe over the ensemble and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Afterwards, he took a long look in the mirror. His glasses were slightly bent from a wrestling match with Sirius the previous evening; he'd have to ask Remus if he knew any repairing spells. He looked at his hair and thought, _For Merlin's sake, why won't it just lie normal?_ Then he gave up and ran his hand through it, messing it up even more, and causing it to stand at odd angles. He shook his head thinking _I guess that's the best I can do… there might be some sort of spell, but I'd probably wind up hexing my head off_. He turned and walked out of the dormitory and down to the Common Room, which was bustling with people all trying to start the homework they'd put off all weekend. For once, James was glad that Remus insisted they all spend Friday evening getting most of it done. All he had left to do was study for Transfiguration. When he thought of that his face curled up into a slight wince and he rubbed the still slightly sore spot on the back of his head from his encounter with that lunatic, Lily Evans. If she wasn't one of the scariest girl's he'd ever met, he didn't know who was. He glanced around for the other Marauders and saw instead, Lily and her friends Melissa and Tessa, the other two girls she usually hung out with were nowhere near her and Melissa and Tessa both had looks on their faces like they were trying to figure out how to get away from her. She had a Transfiguration book in her hands again and her wand out, pointing at the teacup in front of her.   
  
    James gave them a wide berth and walked over to the other side of the room where he found Sirius and Remus. Sirius was sprawled across the couch, taking up the whole thing. Remus was sitting cross legged, leaning against the middle of the couch, a book sitting on the coffee table in front of him. As James approached he could hear them quizzing one another.   
  
    "What's the incantation to turn a teacup into a mouse?"  
  
    "Squeakato? I don't know, Remmy. When did we even turn a teacup into a mouse?"  
  
    "On Wednesday. Four days ago, Sirius, really. _Encanto_. That one's easy enough, you use it for most simple changes of a non-animate object to an animate one."  
  
    "Alright. Encanto for teacups to mice. Got it." As James got closer he realized that Sirius's Transfiguration book was open, blue pages and all, across his face, like he was trying to hide from Remus.   
  
    "Alright, easy one, a matchstick to a needle- describe the wand movement."  
  
    "Double swish, double flick," James said as he sat down next to Remus and stretched out his legs. "Where's Pete?"   
  
    "Ten points to Gryffindor, Potter," Remus said jokingly. "He went for a walk a while ago."  
  
    James stood back up, "I think I'll go find him."  
  
    Sirius popped up. "You want company?" he asked hopefully.   
  
    "Nah," James grinned. "You two are having too much fun. Don't let me interrupt."   
  
    Sirius groaned and sunk back into the couch as Remus began ruffling through pages in the text. James crossed the room and climbed out of the portrait hole. Having no idea where Peter might have gone, he stuck his hands in his pockets and started off strolling towards the Great Hall. He peeked in through the doors and saw various groups of students studying at the long tables, now empty of food, but Peter wasn't in there. He kept walking until he saw a corridor he hadn't noticed before. His curiosity got the best of him and he turned down the corridor. Looking up, he noticed the corridor was well lit and there were lots of portraits, primarily of food. What surprised him the most though was, in front of a painting of a gigantic silver fruit bowl lay Peter, squirming on the floor. James ran over to him.   
  
    "Pete, are you ok?" Peter looked up at him with terrified eyes, but couldn't, or wouldn't talk. "Did someone hex you?" Peter blinked his eyes rapidly, which James took as a yes. While he was thinking of what kind of curse could do this to Peter, Peter suddenly began squirming even more again. Then there came a voice from behind him.   
  
    "Potter," it drawled. James spun around and less than ten feet from him stood Malfoy and his little gang, Crabbe, Goyle and Snape. James drew his wand and rolled his eyes.   
  
    "I should've guessed. What'd you do to him? Undo it now," James said.   
  
    Malfoy's face contorted into a thoughtful expression. "You know, Potter, I really don't think so, but if you'd like to know the curse… it's a full body bind," he looked rather proud of himself. "I think you'll learn it best if you experience it. Petrificus tot…"  
  
    "I think you'd best put your wand down Malfoy," came a voice from behind Malfoy and his gang. James beamed. "Sirius, they're over here," Remus shouted and Sirius came running around the corner. Remus had his wand drawn and pointed at Malfoy and as soon as Sirius had seen who else was in the corridor, he'd drawn his wand.   
  
    "Four to two isn't very fair? Now is it, Malfoy?" Sirius leered at him. The other three, Goyle, Crabbe and Snape had all pulled their wands and the seven boys all stood at something of a standoff while the eighth boy writhed on the floor.   
  
    "_Furnunculus_," Sirius yelled and pointed his wand at Malfoy, just as James yelled "_Gelatani_" with his wand pointed at the same target.   
  
    "_Expelliarmus_," Remus yelled pointing towards Crabbe, or maybe it was Goyle, he didn't really know which one was which. He was surprised at the strength of the spell when both Crabbe and Goyle's wands went flying down the hall.   
  
    "_Tarantallegra_," Remus said quickly after, pointing his wand at Snape, whom at the same time had yelled "_Rictusempra_" pointing towards Sirius.   
  
    Suddenly James hit the floor, Crabbe had attacked him, putting him quickly into a headlock, he was about to bash his skull into one of the nearby painting when James head "_Stupefy_" coming from Remus and Sirius at the same time. He felt Crabbe freeze behind him. He slid out of the headlock and pointed his wand at Peter, "_Finite Incantatem_!" he yelled and helped Peter up.  
  
    The four Marauders took off down the hallway. James turned back for one last look as they rounded the corner. Crabbe was frozen, still in the same position James had crawled out from. Goyle was trying to use his wand to end the spell, but had only succeeded at causing a large boil to grow where the end of his wand touched Crabbe. Snape was shouting profanities and… what looked like tap dancing. James had no idea what spell that was, or which one of his friends had cast it, but he realized he'd have to learn it, it was just too funny to watch Snape's legs act independently of his body. The best sight though, had to be Malfoy, unconscious on the floor with tentacles somehow sprouting out of his face. That sight caused James to burst into laughter and he heard Remus do the same next to him as Sirius jumped up with and shot a fist into the air with a look of victory on his face. Peter was still too weak to do much more than smile feebly.   
  
    "What is that curse that made Snape dance? That was bloody brilliant," Sirius asked.  
  
    "Tarantallegra," Remus replied smiling.   
  
    "Remmy?" All three looked slightly surprised.   
  
    "I thought you only knew countercurses," Peter said and the other two nodded in agreement.  
  
    "To break a curse, it seems best to know the curse in the first place," Remus said casually, "You'd be amazed at what I know thanks to being on constant alert around you two." He gestured towards James and Sirius. Peter laughed.   
  
    "How did Malfoy wind up with tentacles?" Peter asked. When no one answered they all looked at Remus.   
  
    He shrugged, "Got me, I don't know any curses that do that. Maybe two mixed and that's what happened." He laughed again, "Great effect, whatever it was."   
  
    "Hear, hear," Sirius said to that.  
  
    "You alright, Pete?" James asked as Peter let go of James and started walking along on his own.   
  
    "Yea, just… stiff, I guess. I was like that for a while," Peter said sheepishly. "Sorry I didn't help, I mean…"   
  
    Sirius and Remus both looked at him like he had two heads.   
  
    "You were in a complete body bind, Pete. If you had managed to get your wand out and utter a curse, you'd be a magical miracle," Remus said.   
  
    "Yea, but if I hadn't been down there in the first place…"  
  
    "We'd never of gotten to see what Snape looks like when he dances," James finished for him with a smirk on his face. "Don't sweat it, Pete. That's what friends do."  
  
    "Cover attackers in tentacles and make them dance the tarantella?" he asked, mildly amused now.   
  
    "Exactly," Sirius said and tossed an arm over Peter's shoulder as all four smiled and walked back towards the Common Room.   
  


~**~

  
  
    The weeks continued to pass rather uneventfully. The four Marauders spent a considerable amount of time in detention. The entire group decided that Remus's weak immune system was just treated as a joke since he was sick all the time it seemed. The four Marauders ran into Malfoy, Snape and company at regular intervals and, at least when the four fought together, usually came out on top; however, it wasn't all that uncommon to see any one of the Marauders (although Peter was the most often sought after target) wandering, or hopping, back to the Gryffindor Common Room, smarting from one hex or another. The weekends were spent watching quidditch and doing homework. Before any of them knew it, it was the second week of December and they were all preparing for Christmas break.   
  
    "What're you getting Remus for Christmas?" James asked Sirius as they walked towards the library.   
  
    "Hadn't thought much about it… a book, I guess," Sirius said, then grinned, "Or a lifetime supply of Pepper-Up Potion." The two chuckled. "You?"  
  
    "I don't know. I've got all the other gifts I needed to get, but I didn't want to get him a book. I figured he'd probably already read everything I'd thought of."  
  
    "He likes Muggle books, I think. Sometimes I see him reading them."  
  
    The two boys walked through the archway into the library where Remus was patiently explaining the details of the War of the Giants in 911 BC to Peter. Sirius and James sat down across from Peter and Remus, swinging their legs easily over the benches and sliding their books onto the table.   
  
    "Remmy, can you explain to me one more time why History of Magic is important? Because I really don't see how knowing about giant wars will help me in the least in the real world," Sirius said.   
  
    "I'm with you on that one, Seer," Peter said and put his head down onto the table, clearly fighting the urge to run screaming from the library.   
  
    "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, or somesuch nonsense, right Remus?" James offered as he stared vacantly out the window. It was beginning to snow lightly and as far as his brain was concerned, it should already be vacation. James was having a lot of trouble concentration on all these last minute tests the teachers had decided to toss on them right before the break.   
  
    "Yea, somesuch nonsense," Remus replied. Even he seemed gloomy, like he'd rather be outside throwing snowballs than discussing how Og the Ogre instigated the conflict between Batwallis the Angry and Booger the Ugly or whatever all those giants names were.   
  
    "Is there a giant called Booger the Ugly?" James asked, mildly curious whether or not he'd made the name up.   
  
    "Boger. Boger the Ugly," Remus corrected him.   
  
    James nodded and went back to staring out the window, "Right… Boger."  
  
    "Are you guys studying for the History test? Maybe we could all study together." The boys looked up and saw Rebecca holding her books, standing next to Frank. "We were studying in the Common Room, but it was getting a little too loud. They're still celebrating the quidditch victory over Ravenclaw yesterday in there."  
  
    "Yeah, that's why we came here," Sirius said and scooted over to make room for them on the bench. The group settled in and all six of them spent a good ten minutes staring blankly out the window at the snow that was now covering all the grounds.   
  
    Out of the blue, Remus snapped his book shut, crammed his stuff in his book bag, grabbed his scarf and cloak and headed for the door.  
  
    "Where are you going?" James asked him, grabbing his stuff and following him. The rest of the group gathered their stuff and trailed after James and Remus. Remus was making a beeline for what seemed to be the Great Hall, but at the last moment he veered right and went out into the courtyard. He dropped his book bag by a snow covered statue and grabbed some snow. The rest of the group just stood by the entrance until Remus pulled back his arm and let the snow fly… hitting Rebecca squarely in the face. She squealed and launched herself down the steps at him, tackling him hard into the snow. Within ten seconds mass chaos broke out, the six divided silently into sides for an all out snow war. Frank and Sirius grabbed Remus and hauled him out from under Rebecca and James and Peter began launching snowballs at them while they tried.   
  
    The fighting continued for several minutes until the group heard a very loud "Oi there, what are you doing?" from up in the air. James, snowball in hand, looked up and saw Lily Evans leaning out of a window way up in Gryffindor tower. Without a second thought he grabbed his wand out of his cloak, enchanted the snowball and sent it soaring up and directly into her face. He heard her angry yells and the whole group burst into laughter, even Rebecca.   
  
    Less than two minutes later though, some sort of Snow Beast tackled James into the group. Or what he thought was a Snow Beast… a Snow Beast with bright red hair. He paused, there was no way Lily Evans would take time out of her afternoon of studying before a week that held five different tests to have fun. He didn't even think she knew how to have fun under the best of circumstances. However, he didn't have much time to contemplate this as Lily had seized his head during that pause and shoved it into the snow. Suddenly his whole group was barraged by snowballs and he realized that her whole group, Melissa, Tessa and Alice had come running out with her.   
  
    Quickly another snowball fight began, with the first group against the second until the girls pulled Rebecca over to their side, but Rebecca quickly turned on them and it became an all out survival of the fittest battle. Ten minutes later all ten of them were lying back down in the snow panting and laughing.   
  
    "Now who can tell me who instigated the War of the Giants in 911?" Remus said in a very serious voice when they'd all settled down a bit. He was promptly his by nine very hard snowballs.   
  
    "Oh man, I needed that," said Tessa from where she was laying. "I was this close to snapping up there in the Common Room. What sorts of teachers assign so much work right before vacation? Really now." Her grumbling was met by loud agreements; however, her comment and Remus's joke reminded the bunch that they all had lots of work that needed to get done and they all got up and began brushing their cloaks off.   
  
    The ten of them walked back into the school and began heading for their respective places of study. They all stopped at the corridor that split the way to the library from the way to the Common Room.   
  
    "I just can't handle any more of the library," Peter said just as Melissa said, "I think I'll go mad if I spend another moment in the Common Room."   
  
    "Well," Lily offered. "I know a quiet place to study, if you all want to study together." The rest of the group looked encouraged by this possible change of scenery. "Great then, just let us get our books out of the Common Room." When they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady she glanced at Melissa, "You wait out here Mel, we'll get your stuff… wouldn't want you going mad or anything." She gave a wicked grin, said the password and slid through the hole with Tessa and Alice.   
  
    "Was that just an evil grin?" Sirius asked incredibly.   
  
    Melissa glanced at him puzzled, "You've never seen her evil grin? My goodness, the number of times Filch has chased us down after that look on her face. I thought I was bad… but it's nothing compared to Lily when she's in a troublemaking mood, albeit a rare mood for her."   
  
    "I hate to disagree with you Melissa, but I don't think there's a rule breaking bone in Evans body," James said.   
  
    Melissa and Rebecca both laughed at this. "Oh my goodness, tell them about the seventh years, Mel. I wasn't there for most of it… just the results. And getting caught of course. Those stupid trophies, I swear I've got every plaque in the Trophy Room memorized," Rebecca said.   
  
    "Oh yeah? Head Boy, 1904?" Melissa quipped.   
  
    "Reginald Darkfeld," Sirius and Rebecca answered at the same time and then looked at each other surprised. A second later everyone laughed and the three other girls climbed back out through the portrait hole.  
  
    "What's this?" Alice asked.   
  
    "Who was the Head Boy in 1904?" Peter asked.   
  
    "Reginald Darkfeld," all three replied warily at once.   
  
    "Why?"  
  
    "Why do you know that?" James asked Lily.   
  
    She turned a light shade of red. "Let's just say I'm well acquainted with the Head Boys of Hogwarts plaque, ok?"   
  
    Tessa burst into laughter, "What a way to describe twelve hours of detention!"  
  
    Lily put on a stern face, "Well, are we going to study, or what?" and took off down the hallway with the others trailing quickly trying to keep up. This continued through several corridors and a few flights of stairs before they all stopped at the astronomy tower.   
  
    "The astronomy tower?" Sirius asked. "But most students come up here to…"  
  
    Alice and Rebecca giggled in recognition of what the students went up there to do as Lily cut Sirius off. "I _know_ what they come up here to do. But it is quiet. I come here to study."  
  
    James dropped his book bag on a table and shook his head, "Only you would use the school's make out spot as a place to study."   
  
    "You say that like it's a bad thing," Lily said, taking out her books and arranging them on the desk. "So what subject should we begin with? In all honest I might go mad if I have to discuss another giant or ogre right now. Herbology seems like it'll be the easiest test, I suggest we get that out of the way." She pulled out her Herbology text. "Right then, so what happens when you eat alihotsy?"   
  
    The others all settled in for a long evening, the boys with a new respect for the girls. James had been shocked to learn that all five of them had served detention. When Rebecca mentioned the seventh years and the trailed off, his mind had fluttered to the dormitory of the seventh year girls who, a little more than a month ago, had somehow shrunk themselves to a little over a foot tall. He remembered being very impressed at whoever had managed to pull off such a joke; he'd considered it Marauder worthy. He was completely shocked that it was a possibility that the lunatic who'd chucked a book at his head one night back in October was capable of such antics.   
  


~**~

  
  
    "Food," Frank muttered feebly several hours later, "We need food." They'd gotten through Herbology and History of Magic completely and were nearly done with Defense Against the Dark Arts. They'd just spent the last hour stunning and hexing one another, now they just needed to review the Dark Beasts section from the beginning of the term. Sirius nearly chuckled when he thought of how James had said he'd been sure Lily was a Snow Beast when she'd first attacked him earlier.   
  
    "I agree," Alice said, looking at her watch. "Great Merlin, we completely missed dinner." The others all looked up.   
  
    "Fantastic," Frank grumbled. "I guess we'll have to do without then."  
  
    "Well, er…" Peter began, everyone looked up at him. "I know how to get into the kitchens. The house elves would be more than happy to feed us."   
  
    "How do you know how to get into the kitchens?" Remus asked, rather surprised.   
  
    "Well, I like to wander around… I've got a pretty good sense of direction and all and I suspected they were somewhere near… where they are. And I was poking around down there one day when I saw some students climb out of a portrait. They asked me not to tell on them and I said I wouldn't if they showed me how to get in."   
  
    The whole group was looking at him oddly. If it had been Sirius or James or perhaps even Remus, no one would've been surprised and if Tessa or Melissa had owned up to knowing how, none of the girls would've been shocked, but Peter was the last person on Earth everyone expected to deduce where the kitchen was.   
  
    "Well, are you all going to stare at me like I've grown six heads?" he asked irritably. "Or will two of you come help me get food? All ten of us can't go, it would look odd."   
  
    "How do you get there?" Melissa asked.   
  
    "You go down the path to the Hufflepuff Common Room. The corridor splits in two, if you go to the left it's all well lit and there are tons of pictures of fruit. There's one of a silver fruit bowl, you just tickle the pear and it opens up."   
  
    "Fruit pictures? Were you by the kitchens the day…" Remus trailed off.  
  
    "Yea, Malfoy and Snape attacked me right after I climbed out of the portrait. They took the food the house elves had given me and left." Peter admitted turning red.   
  
    "Eh, coulda happened to the best of us," Frank said, who had heard all about their adventure in the dormitory later that evening. "Come on Becca, let's go get some food." He stood up and his sister followed him.   
  
    "Are you sure the three of you can carry enough food for the ten of us?" Remus asked.  
  
    "I'll go just in case. Four people can't cause that much of a scene. And now that you've told them," Alice gestured at the other three Marauders, "I'm sure four students in the kitchens won't be an uncommon sight for much longer." With that comment the four of them walked through the doorway of the astronomy tower and out of view.   
  
    The remaining six sat quietly for a few moments. Finally James leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands and his elbows on the table, looking directly at Lily.   
  
    "You shrunk the seventh years."  
  
    She blushed a bit and glared at Melissa. "Well yes. I'd only meant to shrink one… she called me an insufferable know it all the day before… but all five of them walked into the room together… so all five of them shrank."  
  
    Remus gave a low respectful whistle. "Five seventh years."  
  
    "Even we've never attacked seventh years," James said, more to himself than anyone else.   
  
    "Note to self," Sirius began but Remus cut him off.   
  
    "And we're not going to start now, thank you very much," Remus chided. "I already have more than five hundred years of Head Boys name's memorized." Everyone in the room chuckled and then fell back into silence.   
  
    "I never really apologized for hitting you with my book back in October," Lily said hesitantly. "I'm usually not so… crazed. I'm sorry."   
  
    James waved off her apology. "No problem. Didn't hurt a bit." Remus and Sirius both choked and bit back laughter since they'd both recalled seeing James rub that particular spot on his skull for nearly a week after the incident. The quiet followed again but was quickly broken when Frank, Rebecca, Alice and lastly Peter came running through the doorway. Frank, who was carrying two pitchers of pumpkin juice slammed them onto the table, drew out his wand and shouted "_Colloportus_".   
  
    Suddenly there was a loud bang as something ran into the door, causing both Remus and Tessa to jump a bit. However, the four who'd just sprinted through the door burst into laughter and brought the food over to the tables.   
  
    "Who is that?" Tessa asked alarmed.   
  
    "Snape," Alice sputtered, laughing so hard she was crying.   
  
    "Snape?" Lily asked, now bewildered.   
  
    Alice sat up and wiped away the tears from her face. The other three were still laughing and panting.   
  
    "Stupid git," Frank said and, sitting down, poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice.   
  
    "Is there a particular reason we're torturing Snape this evening?" Remus asked.   
  
    "Do we ever really need a reason, Remmy?" James asked, causing Lily to frown at him.   
  
    "Usually… no. Just curious if there was one," Remus replied, reaching for a piece of chicken from one of the platters Alice had been carrying.   
  
    "Oh but there is," Peter squeaked as he sat down next to Remus.  
  
    "Really? Do tell then," Melissa said, reaching for one of the turkey sandwiches.  
  
    Rebecca slumped down next to her, "They made me guard the hallway."  
  
    "So?" Melissa asked through a mouthful of turkey. "Big deal, you've been the look out for us before."   
  
    "I _know_. So I was fine. Until Snape came strolling along. I thought he'd be a mean git, like usual. But instead he was all… nice," she shivered. "I swear I've never been more taken aback. I had no idea what to do."   
  
    "The slimy jerk was chatting her up," Alice giggled.   
  
    "I'm sure you're laughing at the slimy git, not the possibility a boy could want to chat me up," Rebecca replied dryly, causing Frank to choke on his pumpkin juice and Alice to laugh some more.   
  
    "Riiiight, of course, dear, the slimy git part… that's right," Alice said and took part of Melissa's sandwich from her plate.   
  
    "Anyway," Rebecca continued. "He touched my hair and told me it looked really shiny tonight." She shuddered. "Then he leaned in and…"  
  
    Frank cut her off. "That _slimy git was going to kiss her_!" he exclaimed. "So I hexed the hormones right out of him. Let's see if he ever tried to touch her again."  
  
    "What'd you use?" Sirius asked, stretching to reach a couple of biscuits.  
  
    "Engorgio," he chuckled. "Why'd you think the bang was so loud when he ran into the door?" Peter, Alice and Rebecca all dissolved into giggles.   
  
    "Oh my," Tessa said, trying not to laugh but failing.   
  
    "So anyway, to make a long story short," Rebecca continued. "He got quite mad and started yelling at all of us, trying to hex and curse us. So we ran… unfortunately he followed."  
  
    "Fortunately, the engorgement charm made him swell up pretty badly, it slowed him down quite a bit or else we might have had to ditch the food to get back here safely," Frank finished up.   
  
    The whole group was still chuckling over various parts of the story as they finished their food. Eventually though, they went back to their work, calling it a night around one in the morning and heading back for the Common Room.   
  
    "You know, Lily," Sirius said. "That was actually a very good place to study."  
  
    She just smirked and said goodnight to everyone. Then the girls went up one staircase and the boys went up another. 


	5. I solemnly swear I am up to no good

    The following week was rather hectic, but all ten of the Gryffindor First Years were sure they'd done well. It was their last day at Hogwarts before the start of Holiday and the Marauders were sitting in their usual corner of the Common Room, exchanging gifts.  
  
    Remus was planning on staying at Hogwarts for the vacation. His home life wasn't exactly pleasant, but he wouldn't divulge any more details than that. In front of him were three cheerfully wrapped gifts. The others looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to tear in. He grinned and picked up the first package, shaking it. He looked at the tag and then glanced over at Sirius, who was nearly bouncing out of his skin with excitement at the prospect of giving and getting presents.  
  
    "Well, Remmy, come on, _open it_," he said.  
  
    Remus laughed and carefully pulled at the tape on the ends, neatly undoing the wrapping. Then he folded the paper neatly and put it next to him. The other three Marauders looked at him like he was nuts, but he just shrugged, used to their reactions to his neatness. He then turned his attention to the gift in front of him, a large bag of dungbombs, which made him laugh thinking of their possible future escapades and a book, _Defense Against the Dark Arts: New Theories, Spells and Hexes for the Serious Defender_. The book kind of surprised him. Remus had never taken Sirius to be very observant when it came to what his friends liked and what they didn't.   
  
    "I know you like Defense, so I thought you might like that," Sirius said, still bouncing with excitement.   
  
     "It's great, Seer, thanks," he said. Then he neatly stacked the bag of dungbombs on top of the book, placed them next to his small pile of wrapping paper and turned to the next package.   
  
    The wrapping was a little haphazard and the tag hung crookedly, but only an onlooker would've noticed this. Remus just picked up the package and grinned at Peter. After carefully opening the tape tabs and folding the wrapping paper again, he turned to view his new gift. A copy of _The Collective Works of Louisia May Alcott_ and a magical bookmark that could tell you the page you stopped at, just in case it fell out.   
  
    Remus laughed and blushed a little. "Thanks, Pete," he mumbled.   
  
    Peter grinned. "I thought you might like her other stories a little bit more. Then you might seem even smarter."   
  
    Remus laughed a little when both he and Peter saw the confused faces on James and Sirius's faces.   
  
    "Nothing," he said to them and picked up his last package. He was surprised to find it kind of squishy. He raised an eyebrow at James, who just shrugged and smiled.   
  
    After proceeding through his unwrapping ritual, Remus found that James had given him a very large box of Sugar Quills, his favorite, and two pairs of socks, one pair red and one pair yellow. When he saw this he began to laugh and so did James. Apparently James hadn't forgotten their conversation about always receiving books for Christmas. "Thanks James," he grinned widely. James nodded. Remus then stacked his gifts in a nice neat pile and looked over to Sirius, who was nearly bursting with excitement.   
  
    He grabbed the first gift in the pile, stopping only long enough to read the tag and glance over to James, and then he tore open the wrapping. Out spilled several rolls of parchment, quills and ink bottles and a small, beaten up book. Sirius looked over at James quizzically, school supplies had not been what he'd been expecting. The book didn't even have a title on it.   
  
    "Remember that map you wanted to make? Well, I think if we use that stuff and some of those incantations in that book, it could work. I had to sneak into Knockturn Alley to buy that thing and my mom saw me coming out… I thought she was going to skin my hide," James told Sirius. "And if I'm wrong, well, then you've got some nifty new school supplied."   
  
    Sirius chuckled and repressed the urge to chuck a quill at James head. He'd forgotten about the map idea. "Thanks, Jamesy boy." James winced at the use of the horrible nickname, but let it pass since they were celebrating the holidays and all.   
  
    "Anytime, come on then, Pete and I would like to get to our gifts," James replied with a wave of his hand.   
  
    Sirius grabbed the next package, once again only pausing to look over to Peter, and then tore in. Out poured a small barrage of various things, amongst them Sirius saw Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, dungbombs, Wet Start No Heat Firecrackers, and a couple of odd items he didn't even recognize. He smiled grandly. "Thanks, Pete!"   
  
    Peter shrugged, "I hope you like at least something. I wasn't sure what to get you." "It's great!" He turned his attention on the last package, not even taking the time to read the tag this time and shredded the paper to get to the contents. It was a small wooden box. Sirius tried to open the box and couldn't. He looked over at Remus, confused. "Um, thanks Remus. This is… cool."   
  
    Remus laughed. "Like I'd give you a box that does nothing. It's enchanted. Here, let me show you what it does."  
  
    "But it won't even open."  
  
    "Of course, not, not unless you know the password," Remus took out his wand and tapped the top of the box, while reciting "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."   
  
    "I think I like this box already," Sirius said, with that trouble making glint in his eye.   
  
    When Remus opened the box, gold writing flashed across the inside of the lid, the other two boys crowded around Sirius and Remus to look at it. It spelled out the words _The Marauders_ across the top and below that, in slightly smaller letters were all their names: _Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter_ all in a neat little column.   
  
    "This is quite cool, Remmy," Sirius said quietly.   
  
    "Not done yet. The inside looks small, but it can actually expand a bit to accommodate more than it looks like. For instance, all your map supplies could easily fit in here, even with a little room to spare, I think," he handed the box back to Sirius. "Just don't forget, tap it and say, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.'"   
  
    "I'll definitely remember that," he said as he tapped the box and recited the incantation, opening it once more. "Wait, what's this?" There was a piece of paper in the box and Sirius flipped it over to see that it was actually a picture of James, himself, Remus and Peter, all with their arms slung around one another, very early on in the term. "I don't remember taking this."  
  
    "Frank took it one day," Remus said quietly. "He gave me a copy."  
  
    "Wow," Sirius said, nearly speechless, which was quite an accomplishment on Remus's part.   
  
    Remus just shrugged. "I've usually got a lot of time to kill in the Hospital Wing," he said with a grin.   
  
    "My turn," Peter yelled and grabbed one of his packages. He looked over to Sirius and began to open it. A book fell out of his hands with a thud, but he managed to catch the other package, a bag of Chocolate Frogs. He grinned over at Sirius and picked up the book _Magical Plants and their Uses_. He was surprised that Sirius remembered he liked herbology. "Thanks, Seer," he looked over to his friend, who was already opening a package of his own Chocolate Frogs, "This is great."   
  
    "No prob, Bob," Sirius replied through a mouthful of chocolate.   
  
    He picked up Remus's present next, thoroughly curious about what it would be and tore it open. It was a box identical to Sirius's. He looked to Remus, "Does it work the same way?"   
  
    "Yup. Tap it and say 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good.'" Remus looked at him.   
  
    Peter pulled out his wand, tapped the box and recited the incantation. When the box opened it had the same gold writing flashing across the inside of the lid and a copy of the picture was in there too. Peter took it out and looked at it more closely. He realized it had been taken the day Snape and Malfoy had attacked him, right after the boys had finished telling Frank about their fight. He grinned. "This is really too cool, Remus."   
  
    "No prob, Bob," he said, imitating Sirius's voice, all the while smiling.  
  
    Peter carefully put the box down next to his new book and turned to James gift. "Socks?" he asked, a little worried, glancing up at his friend.   
  
    "Open it up and find out," James said, sitting back on the couch and the chuckled, "but no, it's not socks."  
  
    Peter unwrapped the box and then stopped short. The box was moving and there were air holes punched in it. "I'm not so sure I want to open this, James," he said warily.  
  
    "I promise it won't hurt you, Pete," James said.   
  
    Peter grimaced and pulled the top off box. Running around inside was a small rat, next to him in the box were a few bottles of food and health potions. Peter beamed. He'd really wanted a pet, but couldn't afford one when he and his family had gone to Diagon Alley at the end of the summer. "This is great, James. Thanks!"  
  
    "No prob, Bob," he said, trying to mimic Sirius as Remus had done, but not succeeding nearly as well.   
  
    "Ummm… Bob," Peter said and then looked down into the box. "Hello Bob." The rat continued running in circles.   
  
    "My turn," James crowed, like a kid in a Honeydukes. He grabbed his gift from Remus first and opened it- another Marauder's box. He took out his wand and recited the incantation. The box opened and he looked inside and looked at his copy of the group photo. He smiled over at Remus, "Thanks a lot."   
  
    Remus smiled back, "Sorry it's not much of a surprise by the time you got to yours."  
  
    "Nah, it's still great," James replied and reached for his next gift. This one was from Peter. He opened it up and smiled broadly. It was a copy of _Hexes and Curses: How to get Revenge on Your Enemies_. "This will definitely come in use," James said, grinning.   
  
    Last he grabbed Sirius's gift and opened it. An old, Muggle book fell out and James picked it up: _Cartography for Beginners_. James laughed, "I guess we were thinking along the same lines, Seer."   
  
    "Hope it's useful. I guess between that and the stuff you got me, we'll be able to somehow map out this place," Sirius said, still working his way through the massive amount of sugar Peter had bestowed upon him.   
  
    The four Marauders gathered up their stuff and took it up to their dormitory. The three boys going home dumped their loot into their trunks and Remus dropped his onto his bed. They then headed down to the Great Hall to eat lunch before they all left.   
  
    As they were walking down Peter noticed Remus still held a wrapped gift in his hands. He nudged him, "What is that?"  
  
    "Just a gift for a friend," he said, in a tone of voice indicating the Peter wouldn't get anymore answers from him.  
  
    The group sat down and ate quietly, well as quietly as Sirius and James ever are. When they finished the group made their way into the Great Hall and suddenly Remus broke into a run. The others stayed back and watched as he caught up with Lily and her group near the door. He stopped Melissa and handed her the small package he'd brought down with him. She opened it and made a surprised exclamation that was muffled to the rest of the Marauders because of the distance between them. She threw her arms around Remus and hugged him. Then she joined her friends and Remus turned back to the Marauders, looking rather flushed.  
  
    "_What_ was that about?" Sirius asked, with a sly look on his face.   
  
    "Absolutely nothing. I just knew she wouldn't be getting much this Christmas, so I got her a gift," Remus said.   
  
    "Well, that was nice then, I guess," James commented. "What was it?"  
  
    "A copy of some Muggle book."  
  
    "Which one?" Peter asked.   
  
    Remus looked at him and blushed a bit, "Little Women."   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    Remus waved good-bye to his friends as they walked towards the carriages that would lead them to the Hogwarts Express. He was jostled at the last minute as Frank and Rebecca Longbottom shot past him, waving and yelling good-bye, to jump into one of the last carriages. He made his way back up to his dormitory and retrieved his book bag from by his trunk. He figured he might as well get a head start on the homework he had over the break. At the moment, he was almost regretting not going home for the break. Remus figured he'd be just as bored here as at home, and if he'd gone home, he might have been able to go over to Peter's for a week, like James was planning to do. He walked down the steps to the Common Room and spread his stuff out in the spot the Marauder's usually gathered at. Unrolling a scroll of parchment, he took out his Transfiguration text, _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_, and began rooting around his bag for a quill.   
  
    A small cough made him look up. "Lily?" he asked, surprised to see her there.   
  
    She smiled. "In the flesh." She sat down next to him on the couch. "You look really confused."   
  
    "What are you doing here?" he had thought he was going to be the only Gryffindor remaining over the break.   
  
    "Mom and dad were having a few… er… problems. We all thought it might be best if I stayed here," she said turning slightly red. "But all my friends went home, and I noticed all yours did too. I thought we might have more fun if we hung out together, rather than if we spent two and a half weeks rattling around alone."   
  
    Remus paused and then a wide grin slid across his countenance, "Yea, that definitely would be better. I thought I was going to be spending Christmas all alone."   
  
    "Oh," Lily looked over at the scroll he had unrolled, "are you going to start your homework? I was just thinking the same thing." She hopped up and grabbed her book bag off the table that she and her friends usually took over.   
  
    The two passed the rest of the day amicably working on their homework. They roamed the halls a lot and talked about their classes, occasionally throwing in a prank one or the other had played. On Christmas day, Lily bounded into the Boys Dormitory and woke Remus up, dumping a small package into his lap.  
  
    "You got me a gift?" Remus asked.   
  
    "Yea, well…" she smiled shyly. "Open it."  
  
    "Wait a second," Remus said as he rummaged under his bed and pulled out a brightly colored package. He grinned, "I got you one, too."  
  
    Lily smiled widely and grabbed it. She shook it and then tore into the wrapping. She opened the box and inside it was a red sweatshirt with the words Gryffindor printed across the back and a small lion emblem on the front. She tossed her arms around Remus exclaiming, "This is so cool!" She pulled the sweatshirt on over her pajama top. Remus blushed and hugged her back loosely.   
  
    Grabbing his package, Remus carefully opened the paper and folded it up before viewing what was inside. A red and gold scarf, which Lily had clearly hand knitted, lay on his bed. He was shocked that someone would take the time to actually make something for him. "Lily, this must've taken you hours. Thank you so much." He paused for a second, and then decided to give her a quick hug.   
  
    She was nearly glowing, "I'm so glad you like it. I know it's not really great. I only learned how to knit a few months ago…"   
  
    Remus looked down at the scarf, which certainly did have a very childish quality to it. No store that ever wanted to remain in business for more than a few days would've sold such a thing and for some reason, that made it all the more precious in his eyes.   
  
    "Thanks, Lil… I thought this Christmas was going to be horrible. This scarf is great, I mean, there's not another in the world like it."  
  
    She gave Remus one more quick hug and ran out of the room, presumably to get dressed for breakfast.   
  
    Remus had to spend the three days after Christmas in the infirmary, which worried Lily a bit, but other than that the two had a pretty fun break. On the last day before everyone returned, Lily and Remus climbed into the Common Room after eating dinner and settled into arm chairs by the large fireplace.   
  
    "Remus," Lily began, "how on Earth did you wind up hanging out with Sirius Black and James Potter… and Peter Pettigrew for that matter? You don't seem much like them."  
  
    "Well you didn't really get to know me until these past two weeks. I'd say it's safe to assume you don't know much about James and Sirius, or Peter," he said, rather surprised that she had asked. He knew many people found their group a bit odd. Everyone expected Sirius and James to be friends, but how they'd met up with Peter and Remus was beyond most of their comprehension.   
  
    "That's true. So tell me about them, then," she laughed a little. "Most of the other first year girls in _all_ the Houses are interested in at least one of you."   
  
    "Really?" Remus asked, honestly shocked. He'd only noticed one girl for several months now and even he didn't really understand what 'liking' her meant yet.   
  
    "Yup, well, maybe not Slytherin, but the others. All the girls corner Rebecca all the time, since Frank is her brother and he rooms with you guys. They figure she knows all the stories."  
  
    Remus laughed, "Frank may know several stories, but he certainly doesn't know them all. He's a great guy and all, but he seems really close with the Rob's."  
  
    "The Rob's?"  
  
    "Yea, Rob Davis in Hufflepuff and Rob Cage in Ravenclaw. At first I felt kinda bad since he had to live with the four of us, but it's kinda clear that he prefers being best friends with the Rob's. Frank would know more about them than the four of us."   
  
    "So, what's the truth behind the Marauders?" Lily asked, grinning wickedly.   
  
    "Are you asking about where the name came from? Because if I told you that, I'd have to curse you," Remus laughed. Thinking over the silly vow they'd made to never reveal exactly how their name came to be… which was, in actuality, a very dull story. "Or are you asking about our deep dark secrets?"  
  
    "Well," Lily said, still grinning, "since I'd like to live to see twelve, I suppose the latter."  
  
    Remus leaned back in his seat thinking about what to tell her. "Sirius is terrified, and I do mean terrified, of cows. He even tries to avoid milk. We tried to hypnotize Peter, you know, the way Muggles do, and make him act like a chicken… it worked and we can still make him do it on occasion, even though he swears afterwards that we're all nuts and he can't be hypnotized. And… James, to his never ending shame, fell off his broom the first time he tried to ride one and broke his arm in three places."  
  
    Lily was laughing quite hard by the end of Remus's little tirade. "And you?"   
  
    "Me?" he asked. "I thought I got pardoned from this embarrassment by telling you about them." She shook her head in disagreement. "Alright then… every night I check under the bed for a boggart, and when I'm home, I check the closet too. I'm convinced one will get me while I'm sleeping some night."   
  
    Lily actually snorted she was laughing so hard.   
  
    "Alright then, let's hear about you," Remus retorted.   
  
    Lily, wiping the tears from her eyes, leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment. "I freak out about my grades." Remus was looking at her with a look that clearly stated this was not the same quality of blackmail material he's just given her. "Oh fine," she huffed. "I'm scared of Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I don't know why, but going into there makes me want to run in the other direction. I hate the idea that there are Dark Arts and I hate the idea that we might actually have to defend ourselves in such a manner someday. Most days it's fine and I'm fine once class starts, but some days, I hate it and I just want to cry and leave."   
  
    Remus looked at her, not sure what to say. In many ways, this was blackmail material, but it was the kind a decent person, like himself, would never use. He thought for a second. "Sirius worries about all of us. I know, it sounds nuts that a guy like him would worry, and usually no one knows it. In a lot of ways, he really is as oblivious as it seems, but he has the way we are memorized. He notices if we skip a meal, or if we don't sleep at night. Then he tries to find out what's wrong and goes about trying to fix it himself. My parents are cruddy parents," Remus said, pausing for a second, deciding whether or not to continue. "When I was little, I had an accident. Since then, I've been more like the family pet than a son… Sirius doesn't know why they act like they do, but I know it drives him absolutely insane that he can't fix it."  
  
    Lily looked at him, wide eyed. Remus chuckled a bit, "I know, an odd way for someone to think of Sirius, eh?" She nodded a bit. "Don't get me wrong, his main goal in life is to cause as much havoc as possible… but with his good friends, he really does care in his own weird way."   
  
    "James is more uncomfortable when it comes to problems. If he can do anything, he will, but you have to ask for help, he doesn't seemed as tuned into all our little nuances to notice when they start going haywire… he doesn't try to come up with a thousand ways to solve your problems yourself. But, once you ask for help, he'll go to the ends of the Earth to help you. Peter has trouble in Transfiguration. He didn't ask for help for the longest time, but Sirius kept on helping him in class. You know, quietly muttering the incantation and changing Pete's stuff _for_ him… but that's no help in the long run and when Pete finally asked for help, James spent weeks tutoring him. Still does. And he does it quietly at night, so… until now, so please keep this to yourself, no one knew he was helping Peter out. I really don't know who was happier when Pete got his last test back with an A on it. That's the big thing with James. He never wants anyone to know when he helps people. I can understand not wanting to brag about it, but he always wants it kept quiet, even when it wouldn't be bragging." Remus let out a small chuckle. "Maybe he's worried it'll tarnish his Marauder reputation."   
  
    Lily sat back taking this all in. The two biggest troublemakers in the school had amazingly good sides. The more she thought about it though, the more right it seemed. In any class where people were partnered up, Sirius always seemed to quickly fix things for his partner before turning them in, no matter who the partner was. On more than one occasion, she'd seen James sitting in the library late at night, patiently explaining a concept to a classmate. She knew, despite yelling at them quite often about their study habits, that both were very near, if not at the top, of most of their classes. However, until this moment, that hadn't really sunken in. She'd just seen two of the four boys who were known for pulling pranks and torturing Severus Snape.   
  
    "And Peter? He's a very nice boy, I know… but he just doesn't seem to be up to the same level of magic as the three of you," Lily commented softly.   
  
    "Pete's Pete. He's the glue," Remus smiled, thinking that perhaps he had finally figured out the part Peter played in the group. "He's the peacemaker often… makes sure that the three of us don't kill one another."  
  
    "Kill one another? I've never seen any of you fight."  
  
    Remus laughed, "I think that may be the one thing Frank can attest to. We fight all the time, but they're quick fights. Oddly enough, maybe because of them, Peter's very good with healing charms. He's actually alright with Charms in general, Professor Flitwick seems to like him enough and he never needs any help in there. Actually, a few weeks ago, he was helping me in it." Lily smiled. "Any other information you've been dying to know about the Marauders?"  
  
    "Is Sirius related to the two Black girls in Slytherin?"  
  
    Remus nodded, "Yea, but we never mention them. He said something about having to spend Christmas with them and all… I think that was the only time I'd ever heard him mention them."  
  
    "They're not very pleasant," Lily said, the closest to a disparaging remark Remus had ever heard her make towards another student… other than the Marauders. "Especially that Bellatrix…" she shivered. "Great Merlin, it's nearly midnight." She jumped up. "I'll see you tomorrow, Remus. I hope we don't stop talking to one another just because all of our regular friends come back." She gave him a hug and began walking towards the girls dormitory.   
  
    "Night, Lily," he said loudly after her. Then, more to himself, "I hope not either."  
  


~~*~~

  
  
    In the first week of February, Remus disappeared again. He'd told the other Marauder's that his mother was ill at home and he needed to go visit her. The others were all becoming suspicious of his frequent disappearances now, but they all figured he'd tell them himself when he was ready.   
  
    It was late at night when Peter heard the curtains around his bed rustle and James and Sirius climb in and plop down at the foot of his bed.   
  
    "What?" Peter mumbled groggily, sitting up. He noticed they both had their Marauder boxes and wands out. He sighed. All he really wanted to do was sleep, not cause trouble. That could wait until tomorrow.  
  
    "We're going on a trip. Get your slippers," Sirius whispered and disappeared again behind the curtains.   
  
    "We'll meet you in the Common Room," James added, following Sirius out.   
  
    Peter groaned quietly and then leaned over the side of his bed to grab his slippers. He let himself out of the dormitory, which was strangely quiet, save the loud snores of Frank. He met the other two down in the Common Room. "Alright, what's all this about?"  
  
    "We need to explore the school a bit better to get this map started," Sirius said. "But I thought that tonight we could start with a rough outline of what we know."  
  
    "Shouldn't we wait for Remus to do this?" Peter asked, hoping for any reason that would let him get back to his nice warm bed.   
  
    "No, it's going to take a while to get this done. We'll just catch him up on what we've done when he gets back. Come on now, Pete. You know the school layout the best of any of us. Give us a quick drawing then," James urged him, pushing a piece of parchment and a quill and ink bottle at him. Peter glared up at him.   
  
    "It's two in the morning, James," Peter grumbled.   
  
    "Yea, but tomorrow's Sunday, you can have a lie-in. I promise we won't wake you up and we'll even bring breakfast up for you, Petey. Please, pretty please," Sirius begged.  
  
    "Ugh, fine. Give me that paper," Peter picked up a quill and started a rough sketch of the castle, muttering to himself. He looked up at James and Sirius. "This would be a lot easier if I could walk around the castle while I draw it." He'd said those words intending to get them all to give up and go to bed, instead Sirius and James both jumped up.  
  
    "Well, let's go then," Sirius said, grabbing an extra scroll of parchment and a few spare quills. Peter managed to squeak out a few words of protest before James and Sirius hauled him out of the portrait hole.   
  
    The trio quietly walked around for a bit, recording various pieces of information. However, as they rounded the corner by the first floor of the library, James literally walked right into Professor Dumbledore.   
  
    "Professor, sir," James sputtered, not sure what to do. He jumped back to where his friends were standing.   
  
    Dumbledore grinned at the three boys and Peter was surprised to notice a twinkle in his old eyes. "What could entice three Gryffindor boys out of their rooms at such a late hour?" he asked in a kind voice.   
  
    "Well… um sir, you see…" Sirius stuttered, at a rare loss for words. At that moment however, Professor Nackle rounded the corner. Peter and Sirius heard James actually emit a low groan. It was clear that the three of them had held out the smallest bit of hope that Professor Dumbledore might let them off with just a warning… this was unlikely now.   
  
    "Potter! Black! Pettigrew! What are you doing out of bed? Detention for all three of you," he said quickly before even noticing Dumbledore.   
  
    The headmaster cleared his throat quietly and Nackle's head sprung up. "Oh, Professor, I hadn't seen you there."  
  
    "Quite alright, Nicholas," said Dumbledore.   
  
    "Are these boys… with you?" Nackle asked cautiously.  
  
    "No, no, we just happened to cross paths while strolling. It clears the head sometimes… you are quite right though, Nicholas. It had slipped my mind that this is a punishable offense. A night of detention each seems about fair. I was heading towards Gryffindor Tower as it was, I'll accompany the boys back to their dormitory," Professor Dumbledore said to the potions master. "I trust you'll arrange their detentions with Mr. Filch."   
  
    Nackle nodded.   
  
    "Well then boys, back to bed," with that the four started off in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room. Just before going inside, Professor Dumbledore stopped them, "Mr. Black, you seemed to have dropped this earlier." In a slightly lower tone, he added, "I believe you'll find a useful shortcut to the Astronomy Tower from the Healing Potions section of the library." He then turned around quickly and headed back in the direction the boys had just come from.   
  
    After climbing through the portrait hole and up the stairs to their dormitory, James spoke up. "I really do believe that man doesn't miss a single thing that goes on here." And with that comment, they all climbed back into bed.   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    By Monday Remus had returned and been told of the previous nights activities. He found them rather amusing, even more so since, for a change, he didn't have detention with the others. The four of them entered their first class of every Monday, double Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws and sat in their seats near the back of the class.   
  
    "So what's up, Remmy?" Sirius whispered to him, a few minutes after class had begun.   
  
    "What do you mean, what's up?" Remus replied leaning his chair back on it's two back legs to hear better.   
  
    "I mean, how's your mom?"   
  
    "My mom?" Remus asked. "My mom! She's doing better."  
  
    "So, where were you really?"   
  
    "What on Earth are you talking about?"   
  
    "You know what I'm talking about."  
  
    "Actually, Sirius…" Remus tried to turn around to look at his friend, but, forgetting that his chair was leaning on just two legs, instead wound up loosing his balance, sending him to the ground with a loud crash.   
  
    "Mr. Lupin!" Professor McGonagall said in a strict tone.   
  
    Remus righted himself, blushing bright red and muttered, "Sorry, Professor."   
  
    Professor McGonagall gave him one last withering glance and turned back to writing on the board.   
  
    "Well?" Sirius prodded.   
  
    "Get off it. It's none of your business."   
  
    "How do you figure?"  
  
    "What do you mean, how do I figure? It's none of your business." Remus hadn't realized that his voice had been rising the entire time until he nearly yelled the last word and looked around the classroom, noticing that it had gone silent.  
  
    "Mr. Lupin, I will talk to you after class. Five points from Gryffindor for that behavior. Now if you'll please move your belongings to that desk over there," Professor McGonagall, with a flick of her wand and a chilling glare at Remus, sent a single desk off by itself near a corner, "we can continue our lesson."   
  
    Remus shot Sirius a withering glance and moved to his new spot. When the bell rang, the other three Marauders slid out the door and Remus walked up to McGonagall's desk.  
  
    "Sit down, Mr. Lupin," she said, gesturing to desk right in front of her own. She looked over at the door and, after a moment's thought, pulled out her wand and said 'silencio'. She shook her head. "Remus, what in the name of Merlin was that all about?"  
  
    Remus just shrugged. "Sorry for interrupting the class."   
  
    "I'm not concerned about the class. I am, admittedly, rather annoyed at your behavior. I expect more from you than that. However, I am concerned about you," she said.   
  
    "I'm fine, Professor. Don't worry about me," Remus said.  
  
    Minerva McGonagall sighed and looked at him. She shook her head slightly and gestured towards the door. "You may go them. However, another outburst like today's and I'll have to give you detention."   
  
    Remus nodded and made a beeline for the door, where he found the other three Marauder's waiting.   
  
    "Well?" James asked him.   
  
    "Nothing," he said, then glared at Sirius and headed down the corridor in the opposite direction from Peter, James and Sirius.   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    "Oh bloody hell, Sirius," James said. "What did you do to him?"   
  
    "Nothing. I don't know what his problem is," Sirius muttered.   
  
    "Were you bugging him about his mom again?" Peter squeaked. "I know you don't believe she's sick, but what if she is… then what you're saying just makes it worse for him. Just leave him alone."   
  
    Sirius glared at the other two, "Marauders should never have secrets from one another. And I think Remus has a secret." With that he stomped off down the corridor in the same direction Remus had gone a few minutes earlier, only going right at the fork instead of left.   
  
    "This is not good," Peter said and James nodded in agreement.  
  
    Peter and James didn't see Remus and Sirius until Potions after lunch, when Sirius grabbed James's arm and dragged him to one side of the classroom and Remus did the same to Peter. After that class, Peter and James's heads were spinning. Remus had complained about Sirius the entire time and Sirius had complained about Remus. Peter and James literally sprinted out of the class to avoid having to listen to any more moaning and met up in the hallway.   
  
    "Charms then, Pete?" James asked.   
  
    "Oh joy," Peter muttered. _Great_, he thought. _The one class that always drives James nuts and Sirius and Remus won't talk to each other… this is going to be a long ninety minutes_. James and Peter walked into the classroom and put their stuff down in their seats. Sirius came in and plopped down next to Peter. Remus entered a minute later and, shooting Sirius yet another glare, sat down on the other side of James. The rest of the class filed in and soon Professor Flitwick began the lesson.   
  
    "Today we're going to pair off. However, after last times incidents, he stopped to look over at the two Hufflepuffs who'd accidentally turned themselves into pincushions. "I've set up partners for you. Today we'll experiment with the Cheering Charm. When I read off your name, please find your partner and begin working. Melody and Alice Smith. Peter Neder and Melissa Denezyuk. Robert Davis and Elizabeth Fortescue. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Peter Pettigrew and Cedric Fudge. Rebecca and Frank Longbottom. James Potter and Lily Evans…" the professor went through the rest of the class list.   
  
    Peter walked over to Cedric and they began practicing. Peter glanced over at Remus and Sirius and saw them both laughing hysterically. At first, this made Peter smile… until he realized that they'd both just cast the Cheering Charm correctly, if not a little too overzealously. Then he looked over at Lily and James and saw them glaring at each other. Great, thought Peter. _Just great. James really needs to deal with this. This is the only class she's above him in and he just can't handle that. If it's Sirius or Remus or even me in Herbology, he's fine with it… but for whatever stupid reason Lily Evans can't be better at Charms than he is._ Peter shook his head. The two of them had been rivals regarding their schoolwork for some time now and James did not take being beaten well at all. A few minutes later though and both were chuckling happily, another pair the charm had worked well on. Peter sighed and waited for Cedric to finish giggling so he could try out the spell.   
  
    After class, the four Marauders walked out the door together and for a minute, Peter thought everything had been forgiven. Then Remus turned one way and Sirius the other, leaving James and Peter standing alone outside the Charms classroom.   
  
    "Unbelievable," Peter muttered.   
  
    "I know," James said. "Can you believe her? Thinking that she's actually got better marks than I do in that class." James rambled on as the two walked towards the Common Room, Peter fighting the urge to bash his skull against the wall the whole way.   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    The next day was followed by more of the same right up to Care of Magical Creatures after lunch. They all met up out behind the Herbology greenhouses and saw Professor Kettleburn standing by a box that was moving by itself it seemed.  
  
    "I want all of you to stand back, please," Professor Kettleburn said. "Today we are going to study the acromantula. This one is quite young, so I should be able to restrain it easily, however… if it gets loose, run. I kid you not, run." The professor then turned to open the crate, just as he did, the thing inside it jumped, causing the professor to drop the box, which then burst open on the ground.   
  
    The students all took to heart what had just been said and began running like mad for the castle, but Peter was always a slow runner and the acromantula quickly found him to be good prey. The spider-like creature launched itself at Peter's face, landing just short on his neck and jammed his thick stingers into Peter's throat. He didn't even have time to react as the world went dark around him and he felt blood trickling down into his shirt.   
  



	6. “But… Peter?”

    James and Sirius were almost back into the castle before they realized Peter and Remus weren't with them.   
  
    "Where's Peter?!?" James yelled over to him across the crowd, with a look of panic on his face.   
  
    "Where's Remus?" Sirius yelled back, looking equally terrified.   
  
    They both turned back to look behind them and screamed at what they saw. Peter was still back by where the class had been standing. Professor Kettleburn had his wand out, but clearly couldn't hit the acromantula for fear of hitting Peter. Remus however, was running at full speed towards his best friend. Sirius and James took off running towards them, but both saw Peter collapse to the ground before Remus even reached him. However, they saw Remus roll Peter over and grab at the thing attached to his neck. Then they heard Remus let loose a painful scream and saw him drop the acromantula right next to Peter's head. Fortunately, James had reached them by then and took his chance to jump with all his might on the acromantula before it could strike again.   
  
    He looked up at Remus who was swaying dizzily and then back down at his shoe, now covered in a thick black gooey mess and blood. James nearly threw up when he realized it was probably more of Remus and Peter's blood than the acromantula's. A second later, James saw Remus topple over and Sirius catch him, yelling out in a strained voice, "Professor!"   
  
    Less than a second later, Professor Kettleburn was at their sides, levitating Peter and yelling for Sirius to follow him carrying Remus. The five of them ran into the castle where Madame Pomfry met them halfway up the steps.   
  
    She took one look at Peter and went white as a sheet. The six of them then continued up to the infirmary. She sent one of her assistants to take care of Remus and grabbed several potions and began pouring them down Peter's throat. Sirius had stayed with Remus, but James let out a strangled cry when he saw parts of the bright green potion come back out through the holes in Peter's neck.   
  
    "Kettleburn, get these kids out of here now!" Madame Pomfry yelled and a second later James and Sirius were standing outside in the corridor beyond the Hospital Wing wide mouthed and gaping at one another.  
  


~~*~~

  
  
    Several minutes later, Professor McGonagall arrived in at the Hospital Wing and breezed right past James and Sirius. She reappeared in the corridor a moment later and took a good look at both the boys.   
  
    Looking back at her, they were even more scared than they'd been initially. She was very pale and slightly trembling. Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears. "Common Room, now, boys" and she gestured in the general direction of Gryffindor Tower.   
  
    James and Sirius just stood there.  
  
    "Now, boys," she raised her voice slightly and it cracked as she did.   
  
    "No," James said, very quietly.   
  
    Professor McGonagall looked right at him, almost as though sizing him up. "Potter, I have absolutely no time for you and Mr. Black at the moment. I need to write to Mr. and Mrs. Lupin and Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew." Both Sirius and James winced as they noticed her voice crack even more at the word Pettigrew.   
  
    James swallowed very hard, "I'm sorry for being insubordinate, Professor, but we can't just leave."   
  
    Sirius had spent a great deal of this conversation staring at his feet. Suddenly, he raised his head and looked directly into Professor McGonagall's eyes. "Mr. and Mrs. Lupin are horrible parents. They won't care and they won't come. Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew are Muggles, it'll take them a while to get here…" he trailed off, then his voice cracked horribly and you could hear the tears in it, "They're our brothers, Professor… we can't just leave them. We can't."   
  
    Professor McGonagall looked very surprised at this comment. She paused for a moment and then looked up, visibly startled. "Professor Dumbledore," she gasped.   
  
    "Minerva," he acknowledged. "If I am to understand the situation correctly," he continued, "you boys may sit with Mr. Lupin, he is unresponsive, but will recover… in time."   
  
    James noticed that the usual twinkle in the headmaster's eye was missing. He was almost scared to ask, "But… Peter?"   
  
    "At the moment, there are several professors working on Mr. Pettigrew. Most likely, it seems, he will need to be transferred to St. Mungo's as soon as we can secure a safe way for him to travel. His injuries are quite severe. If I allow you to enter the Infirmary, you boys must both promise me not to go near his bed. There are spells being performed and potions being administered that your presence could agitate. You must give me your word."  
  
    "Yes sir," James said immediately.   
  
    "Yes, Professor," Sirius replied.  
  
    "Let them by, Minerva," Professor Dumbledore addressed Professor McGonagall. She shook her head sadly and let them by, walking off in the direction of the owlery.   
  
    The boys followed Professor Dumbledore into the Infirmary. He pointed them to a nearby bed. "Do not go beyond it. Do not touch anything, don't even touch Mr. Lupin. But you may sit with him for a bit, if that is what you wish to do." He continued walking.   
  
    James and Sirius pulled back the curtain around the bed and looked at Remus. They both gasped at the same time. He was so pale that they could see his veins clearly through his body everywhere except for his hand, where he'd been bitten. His hand, which lay above the covers, was more than twice its normal size and a nasty shade of green. The actual area that was punctured was purplish red and still oozing pus and blood. Two tubes were going into his hand and attached to a machine next to him.   
  
    Sirius walked over to the other side of the bed. And quietly, so quietly that no one but James and presumably Remus, could hear, he muttered, "What were you thinking, Remmy?" and then sunk into the chair next to the bed.   
  
    James too the seat on the other side and the two of them sat in silence for quite a while alternating looking at Remus and then at each other. Finally Sirius buried his head in his hands. James winced and looked out the window. Until that moment, he'd forgotten that the two of them were in the middle of a fight. He couldn't imagine that it was possible to feel worse than he did now, but he thought that if it was possible, Sirius did.  
  
    "Dammit, why does he have to be able to run so fast?" Sirius muttered quietly a few minutes later, his voice very thick.   
  
    "I think that any of the adults would tell us those aren't the best questions to be asking right now…" James trailed off. "I hate 'what if's?' I mean, I was standing _right next_ to Peter. It could've been me… and why wasn't it? Or why didn't I see it attack him? I could've gotten it off sooner and then at least Remus would be fine…" James stared back out the window.  
  
    Sirius sniffed and made a choked sort of chuckling noise, "For once, Jamesy boy, I think the adults are right."   
  
    James just shook his head, trying to tune out the sounds of all the people at the end of the isle. "If just a bite… just a bite and he's like this… Peter…" James looked out the window again and didn't look back for quite a while. He was brought back to reality when there was a loud noise entering through the door to the Infirmary and various voices identifying themselves as from St. Mungo's. The noise briefly got louder and then stopped completely. Sirius and James exchanged a glance. Peter was gone.   
  
    The silence continued until Sirius broke it, looking at Remus, "Look pal," he began. "I don't really know what kind of state you're in… whether you can hear or not because, ya know… sometimes you can and you're just… trapped. So, if you can. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. You can keep all the secrets you want, I'm sorry. And I'm sure your mom is very sick and I'm sorry I just made that harder on you too and I'm sorry your immune system sucks, but you've got to fight this crud out of it? You hear? Because we might already be down one Marauder and being down two… listen, you can't die while I'm mad at you, that's just not a fair way to end an argument…" Sirius trailed off.   
  
    James looked up with a twisted smirk on his face.   
  
    "What?" Sirius snapped.   
  
    "Only you wouldn't even let someone die to end an argument," James said.   
  
    "He's not going to die."  
  
    "I know… if I thought he might, I never would've said that."   
  
    "Right," Sirius said aloud and then more to himself with a little nod, "right."  
  


~~*~~

  
  
    About an hour later Madame Pomfry stopped by to check on Remus, all the while muttering about the '_idiot teachers at this school and their hair brained ideas, one of these days a child is going to die_' and then she'd gasp at the word die, which only scared Sirius and James even more since no one had given them information about Peter. Suddenly, she noticed James and Sirius.   
  
    "He needs to rest," she said and then reached into a cabinet. She took out a large slab of chocolate and broke it in two. "Eat this, all of it. And then go get some sleep." She started to leave, paused and then turned back to them. "You can come back tomorrow after your classes if you wish… but there won't be much of a change for several days."   
  
    Sirius and James both nibbled a bit on the chocolate. "Well then…" James said, gesturing towards the door.   
  
    "Yea…" Sirius rose, trying to think of the right way to leave. Then he shrugged and said in his normal voice, "See you tomorrow, Remus. We'll leave a copy of tomorrow's notes when we come back."   
  
    James took his cue from Sirius, "I'll even try to get him to not draw so many quidditch figures on them. See you tomorrow then."   
  
    They'd both visited Remus many times in the Hospital Wing and that was, more or less, their standard exiting words. Except this time Remus didn't sigh and roll his eyes at the notions of drawings all over Sirius's notes and then brightly tell them he'd see them tomorrow. James and Sirius gave one another sad looks and made their way out the door to Gryffindor Tower.   
  
    When they entered they were relieved to see that the story about what had happened had spread quickly, so no gossip mongers were all over them begging for details. Sirius was disturbed to notice that the news really had little effect on most of the House. Then he noticed one very quiet corner containing the other six Gryffindor First Years. All the girls had rather red looking eyes and Frank had the same glazed over look on his eyes that James and Sirius were not too familiar with. In front of them lay a pile of books, as though they'd gotten together under the guise to study. Alice looked up and noticed James and Sirius making their way over to their table.   
  
    Lily had a strained look on her face, like she was dealing with inner turmoil about whether or not to ask them about Peter and Remus. Fortunately for her, Melissa had no such qualms, "Are they ok?" She looked near the verge of tears again.   
  
    James and Sirius both semi-collapsed at the end of the bench, the stress of the day hitting then full force. James sat there pondering exactly how to answer that when Sirius saved him the trouble and responded with a very flat, "No" which James realized with a shock was the correct answer.  
  
    Melissa dropped her head into her hands the same way Sirius had before, but instead of looking out the window like James had done, the other girls crowded around her, beginning to cry also.   
  
    Frank sat back and said, with what seemed like a little bit of awe in his voice, "I'll never understand how they're able to do that…" Then he turned to the two boys. "No? They'd tell us if they were dead…" His sister raised her head from the crying group of girls and glared at him through wet eyes.   
  
    The group was now attracting attention from other members of the House until finally a Sixth Year Prefect came over and asked if everything was alright. She was met by blank stares that, in truth, scared her a bit. She asked again if everyone was ok when Lily whipped around and stood up. This prefect had the misfortune of being rather short for sixteen and Lily was rather tall for eleven years old, leaving them nearly eye to eye.  
  
    "Two of our friends were bit by acromantula in Care of Magical Creatures today. We don't know if they're ok or even if they'll live. Would you be ok?" her voice was beginning to rise and take on a hysterical pitch. "Do you think everything is alright? Because I don't. But I also don't think you can do a bloody thing about it, so why don't you just go away. None of the house cared before when they were told. Why should you care now!" Then she grabbed her stuff and looked at the other seven people sitting at the table. "Come on," she said to them.   
  
    The others scurried to grab their stuff and follow her out the portrait hole. They followed her and quickly caught on to where she was going, the astronomy tower.  
  


~~*~~

  
  
    "Oi…" Frank said, sitting down on a nearby bench. His sister sat down on one side of him and her friend Alice on the other. The group all sat down in various spots around the room. Alice started to sniffle again and Frank put his arm around her, then tossed his arm around Rebecca as an afterthought. She seemed grateful. They all sat in silence for several moments.   
  
    "I hate to be the one to actually ask this out loud… but since I know the six of us are wondering anyway… how not well are they?" Melissa asked softly.   
  
    James and Sirius glanced at each other, then James opened his mouth and Sirius fixed his gaze resolutely out the window. "On a scale of 1-10… I'd say Remus is about a 6 and although we don't really have many details about Peter… I'd put him at a 9."  
  
    Melissa dropped her head back into her hands and Tessa covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide.   
  
    James continued. "They let us sit with Remus for a while. Professor Dumbledore said he's going to be alright eventually and I believe him… it's just… he doesn't look like he will be. He was so pale and his hand…" he trailed off and Sirius took up where James left off.   
  
    "They took Peter to St. Mungo's. We don't know anything else… but he was hurt worse. I saw that much… while we were still outside," he stopped short. It seemed like years ago that they'd walked out to Care of Magical Creatures. All of a sudden his emotions went haywire and what had been rattling around inside him came loose in one long, loud tirade. "_What would possess a teacher to show a creature like that to FIRST YEARS?!?! HE COULDN'T EVEN HELP PETER! HE JUST STOOD THERE! HE JUST LET IT BITE REMUS, TOO. THAT STUPID, STUPID GIT!_" Sirius stopped short again and dropped his head into his hands. A second later he felt a thin arm wrap itself around his shoulders. He tensed and looked up to see Lily gazing into his face, her eyes shining with tears.   
  
    "It's ok," she said, so quietly that he doubted the others could hear. "They'll both be okay. People just don't die at Hogwarts. They'll both be okay." She tightened her grip around Sirius.   
  
    Sirius put his arms around her and pulled her closer. He froze for a second when she burst into tears against his chest, then tightened his grip on her. He was glad to have a distraction from his own worry for a moment. '_Comfort Lily_,' was what his mind was flashing now and he was happy to oblige. It took his mind off of other matters.  
  
    They'd been sitting quietly for nearly an hour when James turned his head around to face the others. "I'm sorry guys, but I really just can't handle all this silence anymore. Can we talk about something? Anything, please?" He was almost begging. "Doesn't anyone have anything we can talk about?"   
  
    Tessa looked up hesitantly. "What were you saying about your sister, Alice? On the way out to…" she trailed off looking horrified at nearly mentioning the class that had caused the current predicament.  
  
    Fortunately though, Alice picked up right away. "My sister Melody, she's in Hufflepuff, told me she was 'going out' with Peter. I thought she meant Peter Petti…" she stopped, looking ready to kick herself.   
  
    "No… go on," James said. Then he turned his head to Sirius, "Peter's going out with a Hufflepuff? Why didn't he tell us?"  
  
    "What's he doing going out with anyone? How did he manage that?" Sirius asked, seriously contemplating his own questions. The rest of the group relaxed a bit at the tone of James and Sirius's voices. Earlier they had seemed near hysterical and now they sounded far more normal.   
  
    "No, no," Alice interrupted. "That's what I thought, but it's Peter Neder, another Hufflepuff."  
  
    "Which one is Peter Neder?" Rebecca asked.  
  
    "The one with all the acne already," Melissa told her, and Rebecca's face acknowledged this information.   
  
    "So your sister already has a boyfriend?" Frank asked Alice. She nodded.   
  
    "We're only eleven," Lily said in a tone of someone much older. "We're far too young to be dating."   
  
    "Hey, speak for yourself," Sirius said. "And I happen to be twelve, thank you very much."   
  
    "Oi vey, Sirius Black dating, Merlin help us," Tessa chuckled. "How did we wind up talking about who Melody liked anyway?" She looked at the other girls.   
  
    "Got me, I actually…" Rebecca paused and then decided to continue anyway. "I was running a bit late from lunch. I missed that whole conversation. I'd only gotten half way across the lawn when the entire class came running in my direction…"   
  
    Melissa saw that this was not heading in a very good direction and jumped in. "Because we were talking about you Becca." Suddenly a very sly grin spread across her face, "and your reaction if you found out that Alice…" Suddenly Alice jumped off the bench and knocked Melissa out of her chair, clamping her hand tightly across her mouth in the process. The others watched rather surprised and the Lily started to laugh, followed a second later by Tessa, all the while Rebecca was looking quite confused.   
  
    "If I found out what?_ What??_" she asked.   
  
    Alice looked over at Rebecca and then sent a glance that clearly could be read as 'if looks could kill you'd be the new Gryffindor ghost' in Melissa's direction as she let go of her mouth. "We'll discuss this later, Rebecca."   
  
    Lily and Tessa were stilling giggling madly and shooting looks in the direction of where Alice had been sitting quite comfortably with Frank's arm around her. The boys and Rebecca, however, looked quite mystified.   
  
    Rebecca glared at the giggling girls, clearly not appreciating being left out of the joke. Lily spoke up first, "We were just talking about boys. That was all."  
  
    James looked at her rather surprised, "_You_ talk about boys?"  
  
    Lily looked at him like he was a lunatic, "Of course I do, all girls do."  
  
    "But what do you say?"  
  
    "What do you mean what do I say?"  
  
    Sirius jumped in now, "Yea, what do girls say when they talk about boys?"  
  
    "Absolutely nothing," Alice said resolutely, causing Lily and Tessa to burst into laughter and Melissa to snort quietly.   
  
    "Oh my, you've certainly got a different definition of nothing than I do," Melissa said. "This coming from the girl who describes, vividly I might add, what she'd like…"  
  
    "Oh shut up this instant, Mel. I swear you're insufferable sometimes," Alice said loudly, cutting her off.   
  
    Melissa looked around the room. Alice probably wasn't going to speak to her for a few days, but her goal had been accomplished. She had gotten them all thinking, at least partly, about something other than Remus and Peter. Then she turned her head innocently towards Alice and smiled like a little angel.   
  
    "I'm not insufferable… I've just got a unique and challenging personality," she quipped at her.   
  
    "Oh you," Alice growled and jumped at her again, knocking Melissa's glasses askew as she pushed her out of the chair.   
  
    "I'd never known girls to be so physical before," James reported.   
  
    "It's a bit of a turn on," Sirius said with a wicked grin.   
  
    "Oi," Alice said at the same time Melissa said "Ick" and the two laughed together.  
  
    Sirius turned to them, "But you haven't distracted me that well. What do you all talk about?"  
  
    "Now what on Earth do you mean by that?" Melissa asked. "We talk about boys, what more do you want than that?"  
  
    Lily grinned and spoke up for the first time in a while. "I think they want an example." The other four girls stared at her like she'd grown three extra heads that spoke only in Chinese.   
  
    A look crossed Tessa's face. She'd just gotten an idea and hoped sincerely that it was the same one Lily had. She held out her hand with her palm facing out in a stop sort of gesture to the boys and motioned for them to gather on the same bench, so they could watch the proceedings. James and Sirius complied and, after Rebecca stood up and crossed over to where the girls were all sitting, joined Frank on the bench.   
  
    Tessa looked pointedly at Lily, hoping she'd get the point and the other girls would pick up on it. "How about that Sirius Black, Lil?"   
  
    Lily grinned widely and both knew they'd read the other's minds. "Insufferable git, with that ego of his it's nothing short of a miracle he can fit through a door." A look of comprehension dawned on each of the other girl's faces and they all smiled slightly.   
  
    "I know," Rebecca commented. "A few weeks ago he came over to be my partner in Transfiguration, you weren't there Alice, and instead of a normal 'want to be partners?' the dolt said to me 'did it hurt?' and when I looked at him rather puzzled, he finished with 'when you fell from heaven'. I nearly chucked my Transfiguration book at him. Sent him to go with with poor Trixie… I'm beginning to feel guilty about sending him to her every time he tries to work with me." She said all this with a wicked grin on her face, not even once glancing over at him.   
  
    The girls were slowly clustering, talking loud enough so the boys could hear, but otherwise ignoring their existence.   
  
    "Poor Trixie," Melissa commented. "I heard she has a crush on Remus though. Think that could go anywhere?"  
  
    "Have you lost your marbles girl? Lupin is madly in love with you," Alice said with a smug smile on her face. "It's so obvious."   
  
    Sirius and James looked at one another trying to discern whether this was true or part of their games… assuming this was a game they were playing. They both shook their heads a bit, as if to say, 'no way'.  
  
    Melissa turned bright red as Lily added, "Well if he does, that's their business then, isn't it Alice" and gave her a light prod. Anyway, how about that James Potter?"  
  
    All five of them groaned collectively and then laughed.   
  
    "What a horror!" Lily uttered.   
  
    "Unbelievable I know," Melissa added.   
  
    "I think his hair is cute," Rebecca said, giggling a bit.   
  
    "Traitor," muttered Tessa, then she laughed. "Although you've got a point."  
  
    James gave Sirius a smug look and then ran his hand through his hair.   
  
    "I've never really looked twice at him in that manner," Alice said.   
  
    "Yes, well, we all know why," Melissa said, beginning to giggle.   
  
    "No we don't, why?" Rebecca said, leaning farther into the group.   
  
    Lily nudged them both. "Later," she said firmly.   
  
    "So what about you Lily? Fancy anyone? Like Potter maybe?"   
  
    "Oh the unspeakable horror. Seriously, I'd die before I'd date him," she said with a look of pure disgust on her face.   
  
    "No, I think Lily's quite taken by Remus," Tessa said.   
  
    "I think not. Why do you all have such trouble believing we're just friends!" she insisted.   
  
    "Ah, ha!" Melissa gasped. "But we've forgotten the amazing Frank Longbottom," she said as she faked swooning. The others picked up on this too.   
  
    "Oh my, his eyes," Lily said, blinking rapidly.   
  
    "He's so sweet and intelligent," Melissa added.   
  
    "Speaking of bottom's, check out his," Tessa added, busting into laughter.   
  
    "He's my brother!!!" Rebecca shouted with a mixed look of humor and disgust on her face.   
  
    James and Sirius looked at Frank who had turned quite red during the past few comments, despite the fact they all knew they were in good fun.   
  
    Suddenly, Lily turned to face the boys. "And that is what we do," she said and took a bow. The other four followed her and then the five of them collapsed into a fit of giggles.  
  
    The silence then returned and remained for a few minutes before someone pointed out the time and said they'd better get back to their dormitories. It was getting late and they had classes in the morning. 


	7. They can even impossible odds

    After their classes the next day, James and Sirius brought their book bags straight to the Hospital Wing and sat down next to Remus. The two exchanged pained looks when they realized that he wasn't looking any better. Then James just shook his head sadly and opened his book bag on the table next to the bed.   
  
    "Hey Remus," James said. "I'm gonna copy these Herbology notes for you now. You didn't miss much… puffapods and a little bit about the Venomous Tentacula." James chuckled a bit, "Although, when we went over to examine the tentacula, Frank got a bit too close and it walloped him something good. The rest of the class had a good laugh at that."   
  
    Sirius chimed in, "I'll copy my Transfiguration and Charms notes for you." He let out a bit of an exasperated sigh, "I'll even leave the quidditch figures out, but I really think they add something to the overall look of the notes." He looked up at James who shook his head and went back to copying. "Anyway, let's see, today in transfiguration we learned more about Switching Spells. Trixie McGonagall and Mary Ollivander both got detention for talking. They lost a lot of points too, so Gryffindor might be in second place now. Then in Charms," he stopped and laughed for a minute, causing James to look over from his scrolls with a puzzled expression on his face. "On the way out, Lily and James were fighting again and she said 'oh sod off, James Potter' and hit him with a very strong Cheering Charm. The idiot was laughing so hard he could barely walk." James stopped looking puzzled and glared at his friend. "And that, my dear friend Remus, is why we are so late. I had to wait for that idiot over there to get his head together."   
  
    James and Sirius then quieted down and recopied their notes from their classes, stacking the parchments neatly on the small end table next to Remus's bed. "Well, they're right there for when you wake up," Sirius said quietly, just as Madame Pomfry popped her head in between the curtains.   
  
    "Hello boys," she said cheerfully. "Back to visit again, then?"     The boys nodded, both happy with her expression. It was far better than the pained and panicked one of yesterday.   
  
    "Madame Pomfry," Sirius asked her as she turned to leave. "How's Peter? No one will tell us anything."   
  
    Madame Pomfry winced and shook her head, "I'm sorry boys; I really don't know much about his current condition. He was still alive when he left from here… perhaps if you asked Professor Dumbledore." Then she turned and left.   
  
    James and Sirius both looked out the window, it was snowing lightly again. Sirius didn't know what James was thinking of, but he was remembering the day Remus had snapped in the library and they'd had a massive snowball fight.  
  
    "Remember the Snow Beast?" James asked quietly.   
  
    Sirius smiled slightly and nodded. He hesitated a second and then said, "Let's try to find Dumbledore."   
  
    They gathered their stuff and said their good-bye's to a still silent Remus and headed out into the castle. James started off down the corridor with Sirius at his side. He reached a door and knocked.   
  
    "Come in," squeaked a high pitched voice they both recognized as Professor Flitwick.   
  
    James opened the door, but remained standing in the hallway. Sirius peered in around him and realized they'd gone to the Teacher's Lounge. Professor Nackle was chatting with Professor McGonagall about the Quidditch Cup standings and Professor Sinistra, the newest professor at Hogwarts, was looking over lesson plans in an overstuffed chair. Professor Flitwick was sitting at a round table a few feet from the door and, while he looked surprised to see James Potter and Sirius Black at the door, he smiled and gestured that they enter.   
  
    "Sir, we were hoping you could tell us how to find Professor Dumbledore," Sirius said quietly. The two boys had noticed that with their entrance all conversations had stopped and the instructors were all watching them.   
  
    "Oh," Professor Flitwick said, in his high pitched voice, "I'm actually not sure where the Headmaster is right now. Nicholas? Minerva?" He looked over to his colleagues.   
  
    "I believe I saw the Headmaster taking a walk by the Quidditch pitch," Professor McGonagall said and then turned back to Professor Nackle with a comment about Ravenclaw's seeker.   
  
    "Thank you, ma'am," Sirius said as he and James rushed to exit the room. "Quidditch pitch then?"   
  
    "Definitely," James said. The two went up to Gryffindor tower to drop off their book bags and grabbed their scarves and cloaks. Then they turned back around, found their way to the Entrance Hall and walked outside of the castle towards the Quidditch pitch.   
  
    They didn't have to look long before they noticed a very old wizard sitting in the Gryffindor area of the Quidditch stadium.  
  


~~*~~

  
  
    "Mr. Potter and Mr. Black," Dumbledore addressed them without turning around. "Nice day for a walk, is it not?"   
  
    "Actually, sir, we were looking for you," Sirius said. "We were hoping you could tell us how Peter is doing."  
  
    The old headmaster sighed and gestured to the seats beside him. James and Sirius lowered themselves carefully into them.   
  
    "The wounds in Peter's neck were quite severe. I'm sure you both notice the effect of a single sting on your friend Mr. Lupin's hand." He looked over his half moon glasses to see if the boys understood. They nodded. "Mr. Pettigrew suffered a far more brutal attack. The wounds have not yet managed to heal and are quite infected. We cannot even begin to allow him to heal, as he is still bleeding. I'm not sure if either of you are familiar with Muggle blood transfusions… but there is a very similar wizarding technique being used on your friend at the moment. Until it succeeds and the wounds heal enough to stop bleeding, he will be in danger. Provided that the wounds manage to heal before Mr. Pettigrew bleeds too much, the hospital will then need to perform a far more advanced wizarding transfusion to replace all his blood, which is, at the moment, tainted with the venom of the acromantula, thus causing problems with all his organs. Should all these steps be successful, Mr. Pettigrew will eventually be fine. Should they not…"  
  
    Neither James nor Sirius knew how to respond to this. The complete and total truth had been the last thing they'd expected. James shook himself out of his reverie first.   
  
    "Thank you, sir," he said quietly. Professor Dumbledore turned to look him in the eye, as though sizing him up.  
  
    "I'm sorry, to be the one to bear this bad news to you… but I have found that most students can handle more than the majority of professors here allow themselves to believe they can."  
  
    Sirius nodded slowly, "Thank you, sir. For telling us the truth and having the confidence that we could handle it." He paused for a second. "I don't suppose there'd be any way… I mean…"  
  
    He trailed off, but Dumbledore looked at him, silently urging him to go on. "Yes, Sirius?"  
  
    "Do you suppose this weekend we could visit Peter? We've been visiting Remus and well…" he turned his head away and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I just don't want Peter to think we've forgotten about him," he finished quietly.   
  
    Dumbledore appeared to contemplate this for a second and then turned to the boy, "Actually, I believe that would be a fantastic idea. Friendship and love can do wonders always. They can even impossible odds." He stared out at the Quidditch pitch. "Yes, I'll have a portkey set up for the two of you to use and I'll notify Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew by owl that two of Peter's friends will be visiting him on Saturday." The three stared out at the Quidditch pitch together for a few more moments until Dumbledore rose. "Sadly, I have some unavoidable work to attend to. The two of you can come up to my office on Saturday in the morning. The password is 'sugar quill'. Good evening, Mr. Black, Mr. Potter." Then he set off across the pitch, back towards the castle.   
  
    A few moments later Sirius and James got up and walked silently back to the castle. Dumbledore's words were reverberating through Sirius's brain. _Friendship and love can do wonders always. They can even impossible odds._ He never forgot those words.   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    Early Saturday morning, James and Sirius rushed to the gargoyle that marked the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's living quarters.   
  
    "Sugar quill," James said and the gargoyle jumped to life. Sirius and he both jumped onto the spiraling steps and rode silently to the top.   
  
    Suddenly, James let out a nervous laugh, "Have you got 10 galleons on you?" He looked at Sirius.   
  
    "I think I might. Why?"   
  
    "Good. So do I. We both owe Peter 10 galleons. We can give it to him at the hospital."  
  
    "What on Earth for?" Sirius asked, raising his hand to knock on Dumbledore's door.  
  
    "Hogwarts Express. He bet 10 galleons against each of us that you and I would wind up here for the first time together."  
  
    A look of comprehension crossed Sirius's face and he let out a small chuckle. "Right you are, Jamesy boy. Right you are. 'Easiest ten galleons I'll ever make', wasn't that what he said?"   
  
    James nodded. Sirius knocked on the door and it opened for them. "Come in, gentlemen," a voice resonated from inside. They entered and saw the headmaster sitting at his desk. He held out to them a beat up copy of an old Transfiguration book.   
  
    "Your portkey, it's set to go off in about two minutes. It will return here in two hours, be sure to mind the time. The Pettigrew's are expecting you. I'm sure you both know how these work, if you'll just take it and place a finger or so," Dumbledore let go of the book as James reached forward and took it. "It will return you here, to my office, in two hours. If I'm not here at the time, I'd like you both to report to Professor McGonagall and inform her you have safely returned."  
  
    The boys nodded. A second later they felt that familiar hooked sensation in their stomachs as the castle dissolved and a sterile waiting room began to appear before their eyes. James and Sirius were knocked to the ground upon arrival.   
  
    A strong hand grabbed James and helped him up. He looked up and saw Peter's eyes looking right back at him. _This must be Mr. Pettigrew_, he thought.   
  
    "Sirius Black?" The man asked him.  
  
    "No, sir. James Potter. That's Sirius," he gestured next to him, where a small woman was helping Sirius to his feet.   
  
    "Sorry. I'm Peter's dad, Mr. Pettigrew. My wife," he held out his arm to the small woman, who came over and stood next to him. "Mrs. Pettigrew."   
  
    "We're so sorry about Peter, sir. We tried to help him…" Sirius's voice choked off.  
  
    "Well, let's not talk about him as if he's dead, alright then? He's still got a fighting chance," his father said quietly. Then more to himself he muttered, "Never knew this world would be so dangerous…"  
  
    He wife overheard him and commented, "Well that's just fine then. Peter may be coming back to our world for good anyway, you heard what those… what are they called, dear? Medium wizards? Medicine?"  
  
    "Mediwizard," James offered meekly.   
  
    "Yes, mediwizards, thank you dear," she continued. "Said. With the rate he's going through blood…"   
  
    "What do you mean, ma'am?" Sirius asked politely. Both his and James's eyes had widened at the comment of Peter going back to their world.   
  
    "He's going through so much blood that the wizards are worried about their supplies. So they've contacted a… Muggle, do you call it?, group to help match Peter's blood type. They're worried that all the non-magical blood, as they keep calling it, will affect his ability to perform magic. As it is, they're switching back and forth, one pint from their stores and one pint from Muggles."  
  
    James and Sirius shared a horrified glance. Peter would definitely not be happy to wake up and find himself a Squib.   
  
    "Anyway boys, your professor said you only had a brief amount of time here. You'll want to go in and visit, I suppose." She sat down next to a machine that produced coffee and her husband took the seat next to her, gesturing towards his son's room.  
  
    James and Sirius walked into the room. It was dark, the curtains were drawn, and there were several machines beeping at one. They got closer to the bed.   
  
    Sirius took one look at Peter and leaned over to the garbage pail next to his bed, emptying the contents of his breakfast into it.   
  
    "Bloody hell," James said very quietly. He'd gone very pale and looked like he may need the pail next; however, he just swallowed hard and walked next to the bed.   
  
    Peter's neck was bandaged but the blood loss was still seeping through along with green and yellow ooze. The smell was nearly unbearable, like a mixture of rotten eggs and too much vanilla topped off by manure.   
  
    Sirius regained his composure and walked over to the other side of Peter's bed. Over the bandage they could see Peter's head, which was a sick shade of yellow itself. The two boys let their eyes roam and followed the tubes to their various machines.  
  
    James's eyes paused at the bag of blood hanging from the rack. "Do you suppose it's Muggle or magical?" he commented softly.   
  
    Sirius looked at it closer. "Magical, it's got a St. Mungo's stamp on it."   
  
    James turned his attention to Peter. "Hey Pete. Remember those easiest ten galleon's you'll ever make? Well, here they are." He scrounged in his pocket and pulled out ten small pieces of gold. "Sirius owes you ten too. I'll leave a note with it so your parents can read it to you if you wake up while we're not here. The two of us wound up in Dumbledore's office for the first time together. You were spot on."   
  
    "Right Pete," Sirius said quietly. Then he turned around towards the door. "I can't do this, James. I'm sorry."   
  
    "No, it's okay, Seer. I'll meet you outside in a minute," James said, writing down the explanation on a piece of nearby paper. "I'll just tell him about Remus, and I'll meet you out there." Before the words were even out of his mouth, James heard the door click and knew his friend had left.   
  
    "Remus'll be okay. I don't know if you even know that he got hurt. But if you can hear me and you're worrying… don't. He'll be fine. We get to spend plenty of time with him, he's still at Hogwarts. They even think he'll be awake by the end of the week. And you'll be back at Hogwarts soon too, Pete." He sat quietly for a moment. "I'd better go check on Sirius. We'll come back when we can." Then he stood up and crossed to the door on the other side of the room.   
  
    Outside Sirius was sitting with his head in his hands. "It's alright, Seer."  
  
    "Oh," he jumped a bit. "You're back. Right then… I've an idea. Come with me, will you? We've got a lot of time until the portkey kicks back in."  
  
    "Where are Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew?" James asked, standing up with Sirius.   
  
    "Cafeteria. Said they needed a bit of food." Sirius started off down the corridor. And stopped at the nurses station. "Excuse me, miss," he addressed the pretty, young nurse sitting behind the desk. "My friend and I were hoping that you could test our blood to see if we'd be a match for Peter Pettigrew. They've resorted to giving him Muggle blood and we'd like to try and help, even if it's just a little bit."  
  
    James's face lit up, "Brilliant, Sirius."   
  
    "First floor, they'll direct you down there," the nurse told them and they headed off. After a few more stops at various stations, they were both sitting on a table with their sleeves rolled up and their arms exposed.   
  
    "I really don't like needles," James was muttering under his breath. "This seemed so much easier when it was an idea, then before I was sitting on a table waiting to have a piece of metal shoved in my arm so they can tell me I probably don't match him anyway…"  
  
    James continued to ramble while Sirius just grinned. A second later another nurse walked in with two needles and James fell silent. She smiled brightly at them, "Who's first?"  
  
    "Me," Sirius said, offering up his arm. Ten seconds later it was done and she turned to James who'd gone very white.   
  
    "Are you sure you want to do this, young man?" she asked.   
  
    "You don't have to James. You're probably right, you probably don't match," Sirius said, thinking that maybe he'd volunteered James for a bit too much this time.   
  
    "Oh shut up, Sirius," James retorted and held out his arm. "Stick me." Ten seconds later she was done, had gathered her supplies, promised them a response shortly and left the room. Sirius was sure that as she left he heard James mutter 'vampire' under his breath.   
  
    "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Sirius asked cheekily.   
  
    "If I wasn't lightheaded and worried I was going to pass out, I'd deck you now."  
  
    "Lightheaded? She barely took any blood!"  
  
    "It's the principal of the thing. My blood should be in my body, not in a test tube."   
  
    The two continued bickering until the nurse returned, at one point James even insisting that she was a vampire and didn't she look like one too. The moment she reentered the room, both of them fell silent. She looked at them both and smiled that bright smile again, "You're both a match! Can you believe that luck?"   
  
    "Well, hop up on different beds, you'll need to lie down. Sorry, but we do this the same way as the Muggles. They've got the best techniques. It'll only take about ten minutes." Sirius jumped off the bed he was sitting on with James and lied down on the one next to him. James, once again a very pale shade of white, sprawled across the one he was already sitting on. James heard Sirius striking up a conversation with the nurse and decided that he was just going to close his eyes tightly until it was all over. He heard the nurse's footsteps as she crossed the room and felt her tie the tourniquet on his upper arm and then felt the sting on the needle going into his vein. Then he heard her footsteps retreat from the room altogether.   
  
    "So James, when we get…"   
  
    James cut him off, "Not a word, Black. If it were anyone but Peter and if his magical abilities weren't at stake… just not a word."   
  
    The two remained in silence for the ten minutes until the nurse returned and removed the needles from both their arms. James sat up wincing and put a considerable amount of pressure on his arm. Sirius jumped up from his bed, stilling grinning.   
  
    "Uh uh," the nurse said, returning with a tray of cookies. "Eat these first and drink this pumpkin juice. Then you may go. When I get back here, this tray better be empty!"  
  
    "Yes ma'am," Sirius said and mock saluted her, grabbing a cookie. She giggled and left the room. James reached gingerly for a cookie while glaring at Sirius. They finished their cookies and James glanced at his watch.   
  
    "Woah," he said and pulled the portkey out of the pocket in his robe. "It's about to go. Grab it now, Sirius."   
  
    A second later the two of them found themselves on the floor of the headmaster's office, Dumbledore grinning down at them.  
  



	8. “Polly want a cracker?”

    "I'm pleased to see you've arrived back safely," Professor Dumbledore said from his seat behind his desk. "I'm pleased to see you've arrived back safely," Professor Dumbledore said from his seat behind his desk.   
    "Can we go back next Saturday, Professor?" James asked eagerly.   
    "If you'd like," he responded. Then he grinned widely, the twinkle in his eye very apparent. "But for now, perhaps you'd like to visit Mr. Lupin. I was over in the Hospital Wing about an hour ago and he was puzzling over the ingredients to the Swelling Solution. Mumbling something about Mr. Black's handwriting I do believe."   
    This took a moment to sink in when Sirius suddenly jumped as though he'd been goosed,     "He's awake?!?!"   
    "And he's already doing homework..." James mused. "Well, it's nice to know this incident hasn't changed him."   
    "Yes, I suppose you'd both like to go visit him. I know he was worried about Mr. Pettigrew as well." Professor Dumbledore gestured to the door. "It's not polite to keep one waiting."     James and Sirius dashed out the door and down the step, across the corridor and wound their way through the hallways until they burst through the infirmary door. They heard giggling and a mildly agitated groan from behind Remus's curtain as they burst through. The two stopped short at the sight in front of them.   
    Frank Longbottom was mimicking the girl's impression of what they said about boys in a ridiculously funny one man show and Lily, Rebecca and Melissa were sitting at the foot of Remus's bed laughing hysterically. Remus himself was chuckling. Then he looked up and noticed James and Sirius. He fell silent.   
    "I'm so sorry we weren't here when you woke up…" James began, but Remus waved him off.     "How's Pete?" he asked in a worried tone.   
    Sirius paused, contemplating how to answer, "Well, he's seen better days."   
    Remus nodded and shifted his hand slightly, causing him to wince, "I can imagine."   
    "We heard you were doing homework," James said with a grin as he flopped into the open seat next to Remus's bed. Sirius perched himself on the armrest.   
    "I was until these gits showed up," he said with a grin. "They've been telling me about what I missed. Although Lily did try to decode some of your handwriting Sirius, but we gave up pretty quickly."   
    "Gee, thanks pal," Sirius muttered and then, despite himself, grinned widely. James reasoned that whatever had happened between them earlier in the week was not forgotten.   
    "Well, we've got to be going," Rebecca said as she stood up. "We told Tessa and Alice that we'd meet them in the library to study." Melissa and Lily also got up off of Remus's bed, but before they left, Lily leaned over and gave Remus a careful hug.   
    "I'm glad you're alright," she said. Then she whispered in his ear, "I checked under the bed… no boggarts." She smiled sweetly and disappeared behind the curtain.   
    "You know, Frank," James began. "They did mention Alice would be there." He put on his most innocent face. Sirius and Remus tried to control their laughter and force on similar innocent looks.   
    "So?" he asked, refusing to look any of them in the eye.   
    "Oh, so nothing," Sirius said, they sat in silence for a moment.   
    "You know, Becca's been having some trouble in Potions. Maybe I'd best go check and see if any of them need help," Frank said, turning slightly red.   
    "You do that, Frank," Remus said, smiling.   
    "Later, guys," he replied and made a beeline for the door.   
    "Ten galleons says they're engaged by the time we graduate Hogwarts," James said to Sirius.     "You're on."   
    "You're an idiot," Remus piped up. "James is going to win that one. By the way, could one of you do me a favor and get my books. I'm going nuts with just these notes."   
    "I'll go get them now, Remmy," James said and headed towards the door.   
Sirius turned to him, quiet for a moment, "Speaking of engaged, ten galleons you and Lily are by the time we graduate."   
    "Oh we won't be, but I'll bet you ten she and James are," Remus replied.   
    "Yea right. They just barely don't hate one another anymore."   
    "We've got six and a half years before we graduate, Sirius. I'm telling you, this is one bet I'll win. Especially since I don't ever plan on even dating Lily." They both looked at one another for a second.   
    "Listen, about your mom… I'm sorry she's sick," Sirius said quietly.   
    "Yea well… me too," Remus said. "But I'll take that as a general apology."   
Sirius grinned sheepishly. Remus just shrugged his shoulders and winced when it caused his hand to move.   
    "So how is Peter?" Remus asked.   
    Sirius shook his head slowly. "Bad. Worse than you were…"   
    "Oi."   
    "Yea, oi about sums it up."   
    At that moment, James came back with Remus's books and his own, along with Sirius's. The three spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing their homework and tutoring Remus on what he'd missed.   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    Monday afternoon, James and Sirius walked into Potions and took their usual seat in the back. James, with a silly grin on his face, walked up to the professor and turned in a week's worth of Remus's homework that he'd completed over the last two days.   
    He sat back down next to Sirius and began to copy the list of ingredients and the steps to create the Deflating Potion. The work was going smoothly until Sirius got up to retrieve some gillyweed from the front of the room. On his way back, Malfoy stuck out his foot and sent Sirius flying. He knocked over two cauldrons and wound up dropping the entire vial of gillyweed into his and James's cauldron.   
    "Black!" Professor Nackle bellowed.   
    "But Malfoy tripped me, Professor!" Sirius yelled in protest.   
    "Twenty points from Gryffindor. You and Mr. Potter may give me a vial of your potion now and leave," he said nastily.   
    James and Sirius thought they were getting a reprieve until they looked down at their potion. Rather than the thick brown color, it was light pink and bubbling, like a carbonated beverage. The two just shook their heads sadly, stoppered vials of the strange concoction, and left.   
    "That's it James. I've been thinking about this for a while. It's time to get back at Malfoy." Sirius was walking very fast out of the dungeons and towards the Great Hall, rather than entering though, they went around by the Transfiguration and Charms classrooms and slipped into a stairwell that was hidden behind a painting of a hippogriff and a large, talking rock. They followed the stairway up to the hallway leading to the astronomy tower and then turned at the last second, and tapped the eyes of a bust of an old headmaster. This made the pedestal the bust was on contort into a large hole, which Sirius and James both climbed into. They followed the dimly lit passage until they pushed a wall at the end slightly sideways, leaving them in the Healing Potions section of the library.   
  


~~*~~

    "So what are we doing here, Seer?" James asked, tossing his book bag on a nearby table.   
    "Uh uh," Sirius said, grabbing James's book bag and handing it back to him. "I need a big distraction. Like ten dungbombs sized. Give me a minute to get into place though, I'll give you some sort of signal. Then right back here and I'll meet you in the passage… if you don't get caught. If you do…"   
    "I'll meet you up in the Common Room after Madame Pince gives me detention. This better be good, Sirius," James said, rummaging through his bag for some dungbombs. He also pulled out a few wet start fireworks and grinned. "Well, go."   
    Sirius walked away and James followed at a discreet distance. Sirius peered around a corner and James realized that he was scoping out the Restricted Section. _Oh, this will be good_, James thought. He saw Sirius dart out his arm and gesture him to make a scene. James happily obliged, setting off more than a dozen dungbombs and three different kinds of wet start fireworks. For a few seconds the library was in mass chaos, the smoke from the dungbombs obscured everyone's eyes, the smell made them gag and the fireworks created a ton of noise. James turned to head for the Healing Potions section when he felt a thin hand warp around his arm.   
    "James Potter, _what have you done to my library?_" shrieked Madame Pince. James stalled for a second and then saw Sirius slip around the corner to the Potions section, grinning madly.   
    "I'm sorry ma'am, I was just trying a small fire spell and my book bag caught fire and everything in it went off!" James tried to look apologetic and worried.   
    "What would possess you to carry such items around with you? Go to Mr. Filch. Now. Now, Potter!" she roughly pushed him towards the main entrance of the library. James grabbed his book bag and ran for the door.   
    Once outside the library, he headed for Filch's office, a place he was convinced he could probably find even if someone used one of Nackle's strongest memory removal potions on him. He knocked on the door and then pushed if open.   
    "Madame Pince sent me to see you, sir," James said while standing in the doorway.   
    "That was you, eh Potter?" Filch snarled at him from behind his desk. "Detention tonight and tomorrow then, in the library. You'll be cleaning up your mess." He gestured for James to get out of his office while beginning to mutter, "In my day… hang you right up by your socks in the dungeons… don't know what's gotten into the new headmasters…"   
    James walked out, thinking he'd gotten off pretty easily. He still had a few hours before he'd have to go back to the library, so he took off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower to find Sirius and see exactly what had gotten him two nights detention. He walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave the current password ("Fish and chips") and climbed through the hole. Sirius wasn't in the Common Room, so James climbed up to their dormitory and found all the curtains drawn on his bed. James poked his head through and faced Sirius pointing a wand at him.   
    "Would ya put that down? I'd rather not like my head hexed into next Thursday, thank you," James said as he climbed onto Sirius's bed. "Really now, who would come in here? Peter and Remus certainly won't be and Frank just shakes his head and walks away muttering whenever he sees one of us planning something."   
    Sirius just grunted and kept on listing things on a piece of parchment. "Did you get in much trouble?"   
    "Two days detention with Filch, cleaning up the library."   
    "Great, you can sneak this back in tonight then. I'm copying what we need out of it."   
    "_What_ is it?" James said and lifted one side of the book to see the title _Moste Potente Potions_. "Oh, what is this? Neither of us is very good at potions."   
    "Well, we'll just be more careful than when we're in Nackle's class. This potion actually matters."   
    "And which potion is that?"   
    "Polyjuice."  
    "Poly what?"   
    "Polly want a cracker?"   
    "I'm leaving." James got up from the bed, but Sirius grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.   
    "No, no. Polyjuice. It'll turn our physical looks into someone else's for about an hour. I was thinking, we turn into Slytherins and we, ahem… rearrange… the First Year boys dormitory. We'll need to look up a few charms later on, but this take a month to brew anyway. We'll turn everything Gryffindor colors and perhaps nick a few of Malfoy and Snape's more personal items that they'd rather everyone not see…"   
    "Black," James began and then paused for effect, "you, my friend, are a genius."   
    "Yup," he grinned and pushed a piece of parchment at James, "We'll need to get these supplies from Nackle's personal supply closet. Then we'll need to find a place to brew this that no one uses."   
    "We can use the passageway from the library to the astronomy tower to brew it. But your risking your hide this time with Nackle, you create the distraction, I'll get the ingredients."   
     James leaned back thoughtfully, "This isn't such a bad plan."   
    "I know," Sirius grinned wickedly and the two bent their heads together to work out the rest of the details. They planned out how to distract Nackle and got so into it that James was nearly late for his detention.   
  


~~*~~

  
  
    Instead of heading to the Great Hall for lunch on Friday, James Potter and Sirius Black could be seen taking off at break neck speed for the Hospital Wing. Towards the end of double Potions that morning, _someone_ had knocked their cauldron of Swelling Solution over on Snape, causing him to enlarge to the size of a small hippopotamus. While the professor and the students around him hastened to deflate him to his normal size, _someone_ had snuck into the private store rooms of the potions master and borrowed, so to speak, a few ingredients. Both James and Sirius were bursting to tell Remus this story.   
    "Well?" Remus asked, sitting up excitedly, he was doing much better.   
    "Got 'em," James said proudly, holding up several small jars. "We can start brewing the potion tonight."  
    "Any idea when you'll be getting out of here, Remmy?" Sirius asked, sitting down on the bed. "You look a lot better… well, actually your hand still looks positively disgusting, but all in all, you look a lot better."  
    "Thanks, Seer," Remus said dryly. "They said maybe by Wednesday."  
    "Really?" James looked up from the scroll he'd been reading. "That's great. Do you want us to wait for you to get out to start the potion?"   
    "Nah, it takes a month to brew, you guys should start it now. Those smarmy gits definitely deserve it."   
    "Actually, we should wait till Wednesday," Sirius said suddenly. "A month from then will be Easter Holiday, most of the school will be gone. If we all stay, then we could do it then far easier than now. Their Common Room will be as empty as ours."   
    "I hadn't even thought of that," James said, nodding slightly. "Right then, we'll wait till Wednesday."   
    The group settled in and started chatting about other things. Abruptly, James's face lit up.  
    "Hey Remmy," James started. "The night you guys… well, you know. We all met up in the astronomy tower and the girls put on this little show for us."  
    "James, that sounds so wrong. 'The girls put on a little show for us'? They'd kill you if they heard you word it like that," Sirius said chuckling.   
    James turned red, "That was _not_ what I meant. What I meant was you came up and one of the girls said you liked Melissa and Sirius and I couldn't figure out whether she was joking or she meant it."   
    Remus blushed, "I don't like her like that. She's just a friend, like Lily."  
    "Ah," Sirius said, making a triangle with his fingers and resting his chin on the tripod, "the girls also seem to think that Lily has a thing for you."  
    "She denied it though," James said.   
    Remus shrugged.   
    "Ah, Lily Evans. You know, I suspect some day she may be a looker," Sirius commented, as though he'd put a lot of thought into it.   
    "Oh really?" James commented wryly. "With that hair? I don't think she'll ever really turn heads, if that's what you mean."  
    "Well she's only eleven, you can't really judge by that," Remus added.   
    "No, no. I've spent a considerable amount of time debating what will become of the Gryffindor five," Sirius replied.  
    "Gryffindor five?" Remus looked at him questioningly.   
    "That's what I think of them as," he added calmly. "There are five of them, are there not? And they're in Gryffindor."  
    "You're an idiot. If it wouldn't hurt my hand, I'd hit you with my pillow," Remus told him.   
    "Won't hurt mine, sit up Remus," James said and proceeded to smack Sirius with the pillow.   
    "Hey, hey," Sirius said, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "It's merely that some day we're going to want to date these girls and they're gonna remember how we treated them before puberty caught up with them."   
    James and Remus continued to look at him as though he'd just escaped from St. Mungo's.     "Alright then, give us your appraisals of the 'Gryffindor five', as you call them," Remus said slowly.   
    Sirius smiled broadly, "Do you have a preference for who's first?"   
    "Well, you've already mentioned Lily," James offered.   
    "Ah, yes. Lily. She's going to be a knock out. You made fun of her hair now because she doesn't have the confidence to pull it off yet, nor the skill to really tame it either. When she figures out those two, she'll definitely have Hogwarts begging for more," Sirius said sagely. "Then there's Melissa, who I think will always be a little odd, but she may wind up pretty. However, I think the part of Melissa that will draw the boys will be Melissa. She doesn't seem to play all those stupid mind games the other girls do and she can appreciate a practical joke like few women I've ever met. There will be plenty of boys after her."  
    "Cortessa?" James inquired.   
    "Ah, Tessa. For Merlin's sake, she's already a bit of a looker, isn't she? Never really analyzed her much since I'd already like to sneak up to the Astronomy Tower with her. And, of course, there's Rebecca, who will probably be pretty fit. She's rather sporty, isn't she? I was talking with her the other day. She can't wait to try out for the house Quidditch team next year. Chaser, I think she said. That'll draw plenty of men, if that's what they go for."  
    "And Alice?" Remus posed.   
    "Alice didn't get analyzed," Sirius replied.   
    "Why not?" James looked bewildered. "She's not an ogre."  
    Remus chuckled, "Oh that's nice James."  
    James gave him a puzzled look. "I wasn't insulting her," he said sincerely.  
    "I know that, and you know that and basically, any guy would know that. But she'd hex you into the next week if she heard you refer to her like that."  
    James just looked at him for a moment and then muttered, "Girls." Then he looked over to Sirius, "Well then, why didn't Alice get analyzed."  
    "Because she's going to wind up with Frank, and as I'm rather fond of Longbottom, I'd rather not analyze his girl. Although I do suspect she will turn out quite charming."  
    Remus nodded, "I was thinking that, too."  
    James looked completely confused. "I never noticed this. When did this happen?"  
    "Jamesy boy," Sirius said. "I worry about you sometimes."  
    "Oh shut up," James mumbled and launched the pillow at his head again. 


	9. “They found the cat”

    Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. Both James and Sirius woke up early and dressed hurriedly. By eight they had eaten breakfast and were headed for the headmaster's office. After a quick ride up the steps, they were standing before Dumbledore, a man who looked exceedingly pleased to see them.   
  
     "Gentlemen," he said as they entered his office. He began sorting through a pile of books, apparently in search of the portkey. "I think you will both be very pleased to know that early this morning, Mr. Pettigrew awoke."   
  
     "Peter's awake?" James gasped as Sirius did a dance that would've been ridiculous under any other circumstances.   
  
     "Yes, Mr. Potter, he is awake. You'll still find him very ill, but the worst has passed." The professor held out the same old Transfiguration text. "It's only set for an hour this time, as visitors cannot stay long. Once again, should I not be here, please see to it that Professor McGonagall is alerted to your return."   
  
     "Yes, sir," Sirius said and touched the book. A moment later both he and James were in the lobby of St. Mungo's. This time it was empty, Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew were both probably sitting with their son. James and Sirius spun around and ran for Peter's room.   
  
     "You up for this, Seer?" James asked quietly before opening the door.   
  
     "He's awake. I'll be fine," Sirius said softly in return and then pushed the door open himself.   
  
    As they entered, Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew smiled widely at them.   
  
    Mrs. Pettigrew leaned over her son, "Peter, you have visitors. We'll leave you with them for a bit, alright then?" Then she walked over to James and Sirius. "Perhaps you can cheer him up a bit… he can't talk much though, it hurts his throat, so don't let him, understand boys?" They both nodded. "Then we'll give you some time. Marcus, let's go get a cup of coffee." She and her husband left the room.   
  
     "Hey Pete," James said as he walked over closer to the bed. He noticed that while the room still smelled bad, it was anywhere near as intolerable as it had been a week ago. The window was also open and the sun was shining it._ This is a lot better_, he thought.   
  
     "Did you get the galleons we left you?" Sirius said, timidly approaching the bed. "Or wait, don't answer that, your mom said we shouldn't let you talk."   
  
    Peter made a very visible gesture of rolling his eyes. James laughed. "Well, did you get the galleons then? Blink twice for yes and once for no."   
  
    Peter blinked twice and offered a weak smile.   
  
     "You're looking a lot better than when we last saw you," James offered and sat down in the chair Mr. Pettigrew had been occupying as Sirius sat in Mrs. Pettigrew's. "I'm sure you'll be back at Hogwarts in no time."   
  
    Peter's gaze narrowed and then his eyes concentrated on looking out the window. _Oh no, I hope they didn't tell him that he might not be able to come back, _James thought. _If they did, that was probably the worst comment I could ever make_. "Anyway," he continued out loud, "you've been missing all the gossip."   
  
    Sirius chuckled, "All of Gryffindor thinks Lily and Remus are going together."   
  
    Peter's eyes widened and directed themselves at Sirius.   
  
     "Oh, they're not really. We know that and I think Lily's friends probably do, but it's amusing. Remus will have a lot of whispering to deal with when he gets out of the Hospital Wing."   
  
    Peter's eyes opened even wider at the mention of Remus in the Hospital Wing.   
  
     "Oh…" James began. "Well, he got bit too. Uh… not quite as serious as you, clearly. But he's spent the last few weeks in the infirmary. He'll be out on Wednesday. Maybe he can come visit you with us next weekend. Although now that you're awake, maybe we can come back once or twice during the week too."   
  
    Sirius nodded rapidly at this. "Pete, you've got to hear what Malfoy did to me in Potions last week. Or, even better, you've got to hear what we're about to do to him." Sirius and James grinned wickedly and spent the remainder of their hour outlining their plans to torture Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins.   


~~*~~

  
    On Wednesday evening, the two healthy Marauders, Melissa and Tessa were working on their assignments for herbology. James and Melissa had been teamed together as had Tessa and Sirius. While the former group was working diligently the latter had taken a slightly different approach to studying. Melissa and James both looked up abruptly when Tessa gasped.   
  
     "Sirius Black, are you propositioning me?" she looked shocked. Sirius tossed a wicked grin in the direction of James and then turned back to Tessa.   
  
     "Yup."   
  
    She raised her hand, clearly about to slap Sirius and then hesitated. She leaned over and kissed him very quickly, both turning a surprising shade of scarlet. After that she grabbed her books and headed for the stairs to her dormitory, "That should show you who has the upper hand in this relationship."   
  
    Sirius, looking entirely bewildered, turned to Melissa and James. "Relationship?" he squeaked.   
  
    James burst into laughter and Melissa smirked. "I was always pretty certain she wouldn't handle the boys messing with her… now I'm sure," Melissa commented. "Good luck getting yourself out of this one." Melissa gathered her books. "I think we're just about done as it is, James." She turned to Sirius, "Break her heart and I assure you, the other four of us in your 'Gryffindor five'," she said those last two words with dripping sarcasm, "will break your legs." She headed off for the stairs and called cheerily over her back, "Evening, boys."   
  
    Sirius and James sat there in shocked silence for a second until Sirius squeaked out one more time, "Relationship?" and James began laughing again.   
  
    Between James's chuckling and Sirius's bewilderment, neither noticed when the portrait swung open a small boy with light brown hair and an arm in a sling climbed gingerly into the dormitory. The boy paused for a moment to look over at his two friends. Without even having to ask, he knew something had just gone down and clearly at Sirius's expense.   
  
     "Apparently I've missed something," Remus commented as he slid into the seat next to Sirius. "I'd threaten you with a beating for the truth, but we all know I'm not in much of a state to do any damage."   
  
    James had stopped laughing when Remus sat down, but the moment he remembered why he was laughing in the first place he began to start again. Sirius glowered at him. Remus just sat there and hoped he'd played the guilt card well enough to get the story.   
  
    In between his laughter James choked out, "Sirius… has…. girlfriend!!"   
  
    Remus sat back with a bemused expression on his face. "You miss a few weeks of school…" he shook his head but didn't manage to hide his grin. "Well, which girl has officially lost her mind? Or were you brewing insanity potions this past week?"   
  
     "I…" Sirius sputtered. Then he decided to switch tactics entirely. He leaned back against the wall and polished his fingernail on his shirt. "Tessa kissed me."   
  
    His sudden change in demeanor provoked a raised eyebrow from both James and Remus.   
  
     "Oh, so now we're Mr. Cool and Collected?" James asked.   
  
     "Well, it was only a matter of time before all the girls began swooning over me. We all knew it was bound to happen," he stated pompously and thrust out his chest a bit. "I mean… who can resist this?"   
  
     "Oh, that's just too easy," Remus said and looked at James. "Would you like to take it?"   
  
     "Oh, aren't you two just so funny," Sirius cut them off sarcastically. He turned to James, "What no comeback, Jamesy boy?"   
  
     "Nope," James replied. "I'm just imprinting forever in my memory, Sirius Black, beet red and flustered because a girl kissed him, squeaking 'relationship' over and over in a very high pitched voice."   
  
    Remus laughed, "Oh, so that's how that went, is it?"   
  
     "Sirius tried to talk the talk, Tessa decided that she was going to make him walk the walk. Bully for her, I say," James commented.   
  
    Remus chuckled again and looked at the table. "Herbology?" he asked, changing the subject. Such big news, he was sure, would resurface plenty of times over the next few days, especially if it was true and Sirius was now in a 'relationship'.   
  
    James groaned. "They partnered us for these projects today. Sirius and I tried to work together but…"  
  
    Sirius cut him off, mimicking Professor Sprout, "Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, I think, in lieu of recent events, such as when you tried to feed one another to the Tentacula, not to mention the fire breathing Snaptunia's incident, I would prefer if you did not work together. Ms. Denezyuk, Ms. Maris, if you'd please each work with one of them, my sincerest apologies to you both."   
  
    Remus smiled at this exchange. He could easily see Professor Sprout saying exactly that and even pictured her hands on her hips and her look of exasperation when recounting their previous partnerings. Remus decided that while all their visits to him in the Hospital Wing had been nice, there was nothing like being home. He was drawn out of his reverie by James.   
  
     "Not that Melissa and Tessa aren't great partners… well, I can't really speak about Tessa although she and Sirius certainly do seem to have a way together," James was interrupted as he dodged a book Sirius sent flying his way, "it's more that the project is rather tedious."   
  
     "And the polyjuice potion?" Remus inquired.   
  
     "We didn't know when you'd be out today. We skipped lunch to start brewing it. Now we've got a month to collect two, or three if your up to it Remmy, pieces of Slytherins. How disturbing is that?" Sirius put forth.   
  
     "It's just hair," James sighed. "You'd think we were going to skin them from the way he's been going on about that part of the potion. Oi."   
  
     "Any news about Pete?"   
  
     "Nothing you don't know," Sirius said. "We've been trying to send out an owl or two a day with a note to him, even if he can't talk, he can read, we figure."   
  
    Remus nodded, "That's a good idea." Then he jumped as though he suddenly remembered something. "I found a new passage. I don't know where it does, maybe was can explore it a bit when Pete's back, but it definitely seems to lead away from the castle. If it continues in the direction it starts in, then it seems to be heading towards Hogsmeade."   
  
    James and Sirius both say straight up, "Hogsmeade?!?! Where!"   
  
     "There's a statue of a witch with a large hump in the third floor corridor. If you tap the hump and mutter 'dissendium', it opens."   
  
     "Do you randomly walk around tapping things and muttering spells, Remmy?" Sirius inquired.   
  
     "Only when I'm lost, I'm well aware there's more to Hogwarts than meets the eyes, as are both of you." He shrugged and then winced. "I'd suggest we go and I'd show you, but there's a bit of sliding involved and I'm really not sure my hand could take that twice in one day, sorry mates."   
  
     "Just as well," James said. "We'll wait for Peter to get back and explore."   
  
     "Provided Peter comes back," Sirius intoned bitterly.   
  
    The three boys sat silently for a moment until Sirius made a move to begin clearing up his stuff. The other two looked at him.   
  
     "Need my beauty sleep you know," Sirius said with a roguish grin. "If she wasn't to play this relationship game, we'll see who caves first. It won't be me, I'll tell you that much." He then made his exit.   
  
     "Ah, Sirius Black, so smooth with the ladies," James said sarcastically.   
  
     "If she finds out that's how he's looking at this… she'll kill him," Remus mused.   
  
     "Ought to be interesting."   
  
     "Won't it be, though?"   


~~*~~

  
    The next few days passed uneventfully. Every day Sirius and James would go with Remus to the Hospital Wing and wait for him to take an array of healing potions. On Saturdays, James and Sirius would visit Peter and Remus would send a long letter with them, since Madame Pomfry was reluctant to let him go with them just yet. Daily, group would head over to a hidden passageway by the Hufflepuff Common Room to check their hidden cauldron that was constantly brewing the polyjuice potion, and Sirius was too stubborn to admit he knew nothing about girls, he and Tessa were often seen in one another's company, causing her group of friends to begin taking their meals and studying with the three Marauders. James and Remus agreed this wouldn't be so bad if they could somehow ditch Lily before their study sessions. It was agreed by all three Marauders that, while in general Lily was alright, when studying, she was an absolute terror. This night was no exception.   
  
    Remus was going over the finer details of hinkypunks and grindylows with Frank and Alice, their heads all bent together at the end of the table. Sirius and Tessa were still working on their herbology project and Rebecca was sitting quietly at the other end, with her Charms book in her lap, trying out a hover charm on her Transfiguration text. James had just pulled his Potions textbook out of his satchel when Lily sat down next to him, holding her. He just barely suppressed a groan and turned to her instead.   
  
     "About to start on your potions then, Lil?" he asked.   
  
     "Yup, want to work together?"   
  
    James pulled his face into a disappointed frown, "Sorry, just finished up." He hastily shoved his book back into the bag and grabbed his Defense Against the Dark Arts text out and jumped into the conversation Remus, Frank and Alice were having.   
  
    A second later he felt a tap on his should. "Do you think you could help me? I'm actually… I've been having a bit of trouble in the class," he heard Lily's voice state quietly.   
  
    He turned back to her, with an eyebrow raised. "You? Having trouble in class? Should I head up to my room now? As I recall, last time that happened I nearly wound up with a concussion during one of your temper tantrums."   
  
     "You'd make fun of me when I need help?" Lily asked, turning slightly red.   
  
     "To begin with, I find it hard to believe you actually need help," James began wearily. "I find it more likely that no one would go within ten feet of you when you're studying and this is a ploy to get someone, _anyone_, to work with you."   
  
    He paused to take a breath, "Secondly…"   
  
    At that point Lily burst into tears and jumped up from the table, running for the stairs. Quicker than he could say 'quaffle', the other three girls at the table jumped up and headed after her. Rebecca only pausing long enough to smack the back of his head and hiss, "You horrible boy."   
  
    The four boys sat in a stunned silence for a second.   
  
     "Well that was brilliant, Potter," Frank offered.   
  
     "Perhaps that wasn't the best route to take to get her to like you, Jamesy," Sirius quipped.   
  
     "Like? Her?" he sputtered. "I do _not_ like _her_!" He grabbed his books and headed for the stairs to the boys dorm, muttering about how insufferable Lily Evans was under his breath.   
  
    Sirius look confused. "I was under the impression he fancied her."   
  
     "Oi vey, one girlfriend and you think you're the woman guru," Frank said, picking up his quill.   
  
     "I'm rather sure he doesn't fancy her," Remus commented.   
  
"You bet me ten galleons they did," Sirius said.   
  
     "_Eventually_," Remus emphasized. "Besides, James kept going back to check on you know what, you know where last night, he's had no sleep. There are few people as testy as James when they get no sleep."   
  
     "You being one of the few," Sirius alleged.   
  
     "Agreed," Frank said heartily.   
  
     "Never said I wasn't," Remus agreed easily.   
  
    A second later the portrait swung back and a bespectacled red haired girl climb though. "Sorry I'm late," Melissa offered and dumped her bag on the table. "What'd I miss?"   


~~*~~

  
     "They found the cat."   
  
    Sirius and Remus looked up. They were sitting at a table in the library, researching the final bits of their respective herbology projects. James had nearly knocked them off the bench when he came hurtling into the library at break neck speed. He dropped his satchel onto the floor beside him and whipped out a book and a bit of parchment, making it appear he'd been hard at work for hours on an essay or sorts.   
  
     "The cat?" Sirius asked with a puzzled expression of his face.   
  
     "Sweet Merlin," Remus gasped, "I thought you hid the cat."   
  
     "It got loose," James hissed under his breath as the library door burst open.   
  
    A second later Filch was standing in front of them with Mrs. Norris in his arms. He stormed over to the Marauder's table.   
  
     "What have you done to my cat?' the man shriek in a never before seen level of fury. The three Marauders looked up innocently. Sirius's jaw dropped at the sight of Mrs. Norris. The cat, normally a small black demon with claws to be reckoned with, was completely and totally hairless. Remus and James put forth their most innocent faces.   
  
     "Us, sir?" Remus asked politely. "We've been here working for hours."   
  
     "How do you do that to a cat, _anyway_?" Sirius interjected, his head moving around, as though trying to study Mrs. Norris from multiple angles.   
  
    Flich turned to a girl wearing a Ravenclaw uniform, Sirius and Remus both recognized her as Trixie McGonagall, and sputtered, "Oi, girl. How long have these deviants been here?"   
  
    The Marauder's held their collective breaths. Trixie cocked her head to the side and then nodded, "They've been working on their herbology projects for hours, sir. They were here before I was and I've been here for at least two hours, maybe closer to three."   
  
    Filch whirled back around and let out a shriek of fury that caused all the inhabitants of the library to jump, "I know it was you. It's always you!"   
  
    The Marauders kept the innocent looks pasted on their faces as Madame Pince made her way over and curtly informed Mr. Filch to get out of her library, with or without the students, but to do it that instant. He let out a final shriek of anger and stalked out, still cradling Mrs. Norris in his arms, shouting over his back, "Someday there won't be someone there to save you and on that day boys, I'll make it appear that next to you lot, the Bloody Baron's got a mere paper cut!"   
  
     The group sat in a stunned silence for a moment.   
  
    Then Remus and James burst into laughter, as it began to subside, Sirius shot them both questioning looks.   
  
    James shook his head slightly, "I can't believe we got away with that." Remus nodded in agreement.   
  
     "And what exactly," Sirius injected, "was _that_?"   
  
     "A bit of an experiment," Remus said. Sirius just continued to look at him. "Well, you both know I haven't been able to pull the rowdier tricks with you of late, with my hand still healing and all, so I started working on my own experiment. I've spent the last few weeks working on this powder. Then it turns into a gas, it causes… shall we say, a bit of hair loss? If you can recall the day you were both asking me where the bloody hell my eyebrows had gone… let's just imply that I stumbled upon this gaseous reaction accidentally. Anyway, I removed the powder from a few dung bombs and filled it with my powder instead."   
  
     "Well, that explains a positively brilliant new product for Zonko's, but it doesn't explain why Mrs. Norris will never need a hairdresser again," Sirius commented.   
  
     "No, not never, the hair grows back, as my eyebrows are proof of," Remus continued. "I put the new dungbombs into my book bag and earlier today James and I happened upon some Slytherins who were particularly nasty to us. He reached into my book bag and lit one of the dungbombs… to make a long story short, the Slytherins got out of the hallway before the bomb went off, but Mrs. Norris, I suppose she'd sniffed out the trouble brewing, came running right into it."   
  
    James chuckled, "You should've seen the expression on Remus's face when we saw that cat. Rather similar to yours a moment ago, Seer."   
  
    Sirius sat back and closed his eyes for a moment, "That is definitely on my top ten list of amazing pranks." He paused and shook his head with a look of respect on his face. "Mrs. Norris… oh my." They he looked back at them. "But that doesn't explain the found part. What in the name of Merlin did you do to the cat after that?"   
  
     "Oh," Remus finished his story. "Well we couldn't exactly leave her out there, could we? Filch would kill us. We popped open a secret passageway and crammed her in there, figured we'd let her out again when the hair grew back."   
  
    Sirius burst into laughter. "That's phenomenal. Did you really think you'd get away with it?"   
  
     "Didn't we just?" Remus quipped.   
  
     "Don't we always?" James added. The group went back to their work and less than half an hour later, Remus slammed a book shut.   
  
     "Finished!"   
  
     "How is that possible? You started later than the rest of us and you didn't even have a partner," Sirius protested.   
  
     "Because I'm just that good," Remus laughed. "Shall we go check the potion? I got a bit of hair off of Nott the other day in Potions. I seem to recall neither of you had managed to nick anything yet, and you were rather freaked out by the prospect Sirius. Fancy being Nott for a day?"   
  
     "Sounds good to me, Remus," Sirius replied. "Let's go." The group headed out of the library and towards the hidden passage they were using to brew the potion. It was the day before the Easter Holidays were to begin. Remus had improved immensely, despite three days spent in the infirmary over the past weekend that puzzled Sirius and James, as they'd thought he was getting better. Although Remus had to wrap his hand each day, it was completely out of the sling now and only hurt when direct pressure was applied to it. Peter, while still at St. Mungo's was making remarkable progress; however, no one had mentioned his magical abilities and Peter himself had only made a single remark, early on in his recovery, that he was too scared to pick up a wand and try just yet. Despite all this, Peter was expected to be released from St. Mungo's in the middle of the Easter Holidays and although his parents were taking him home for the break, if Peter's abilities were still intact, he would be returning to Hogwarts at the end of it.   
  
    The group slipped into the passage and whiled away a few hours chatting and stirring the brew.   


~~*~~

  
    The day had finally arrived. It was the middle of Easter Holidays and most of the school had gone home for the two week break. However, on this particular day, three young Gryffindors were sneaking out to a hidden passageway to turn into two young Slytherins. The previous day, Remus had stolen two sets of Slytherin uniforms from the house elves. Sirius was going to transform into Frederick Nott, who was frighteningly thin and tall, like a human bowtruckle. James, to the never ending amusement of Sirius and Remus, had wound up pinching a hair off of Dolores Umbridge, a particularly ugly and stupid Slytherin. The previous evening, Sirius and James had spent hours in the library looking up every kind of trouble making charm they could find, while Remus slipped up bit of Elongated Sleep potion into both Umbridge and Nott's pumpkin juice, causing them to sleep for longer than they usually would when they eventually went to sleep for the night.   
  
    Remus ladled two cupfuls of the potion into different mugs and then looked over at James and Sirius, who had changed into the Slytherin uniforms.   
  
     "How do girls stand this? These knee socks are ridiculous," James commented, causing Sirius and Remus to bust out laughing. The sight of James Potter in a skirt and knee socks was just too amusing.   
  
     "Oh shut it," he grumbled and reached for the mug. "Concentrate of Umbridge… should be yummy."   
  
    Sirius glanced at the mug, "I really have to drink his hair?" Remus and James glared at him.   
  
     "This was _your_ idea, Seer," James complained.   
  
     "Why do they always seem so much better while they're in my head?" he asked, posing the question to no one in particular.   
  
     "Well, drink up boys," Remus said cheerfully. "And then ship out. Don't forget, their password is 'fluffywig'."   
  
     "He's so cheerful, what do you say we shove the entire cauldron, polyjuice and all, down his throat and see what happens?" Sirius said to James.   
  
    James just shrugged, "He's done his part… poisoned two Slytherins, nicked clothes from the house elves, spent his hours looking up charms for us…" Then James raised his glass. "Cheers, Nott."   
  
     "Same to you, Umbridge." The two boys chugged the potions until the painful process of transforming overtook them, causing them to drop and break the mugs. As the two boys fell to the floor, the evidence of the change became apparent. Sirius began to elongate, his dark hair turning light blonde. James on the other hand, grew wider, his dark hair elongating into a messy tangle of mousy brown. Less than a minute later, however, it was over and the two rose.   
  
     "Nice rack, Potter," Sirius laughed.   
  
     "Oi, let's go," James said, and the two left, walking in the direction of the Slytherin Common Room. A moment later they stood in front of a full set of armor and said 'fluffywig'. The armor moved aside and let them through an opening.   


~~*~~

  
     "Let's get to it then," Sirius said, after a quick glance around to see that no one was in the Common Room at such an early time. At just that moment, Bellatrix Black came strolling down the steps to what was apparently the girls dormitory.   
  
     "Fred," she said, her face lighting up. "I didn't expect to see you up so early." She strode across the room and gave him a big kiss. Sirius jumped back when she did. She gave him a puzzled look and then glanced over at James, now Dolores, with obvious distaste. "Umbridge," Bellatrix acknowledged, then she whined at Sirius, "Freddy, what are you doing down here with her?" She pouted and wrapped herself around his arm.   
  
     "What does it look like?" Sirius asked, not thinking quite clearly.   
  
     "Well it looks like your just coming in from a night spent out," Bellatrix said, putting her hands on her thin hips, her black hair falling into her face.   
  
     "So?" he inquired, still not getting the point.   
  
    James didn't know what to do, time was running out and as fascinating as it was to see the inside of the Slytherin Common Room, they'd come to do more than that, so he did the first thing he though of. He wrapped himself around Sirius's other arm, causing him to jump.   
  
    It is exactly what it looks like," he said, trying to make his voice higher like Dolores's tended to be.   
  
    Bellatrix gasped and slapped Sirius.   
  
     "You bastard!" She then turned on her heel and stormed up to her room.   
  
     "What the bloody hell…" Sirius looked bewildered.   
  
     "I'll explain women to you later, Seer. Let's get this done," James pulled out his wand and began turning everything green and silver to red and gold. Sirius bewitched the doorknobs all round the room to recite things like 'Gryffindor is the best' and 'Better to roar like a lion than hiss like a snake' whenever someone tried to open the door. James enchanted all the books on the bookshelf to tell the story of Gryffindor and insult the story of Slytherin whenever opened. Before finishing they turned the couch into a massive stuffed lion and then headed for the door, just as they began to hear stirrings upstairs.   
  
     A few moments later, James and Sirius were running through the dungeons, listening to the indignant shrieks and yells coming from the direction of the Slytherin Common Room.   


~~*~~

  
    They burst into the passageway where Remus was waiting for them, laughing hysterically.   
  
     "So what did you get from Snape and Malfoy's room?" Remus asked excitedly.   
  
     "Didn't have time," Sirius said as he pulled himself off the floor, having changed back into his normal self. "That was the most painful thing I've ever done. You're lucky you've never had to change like that, Remus."   
  
    Remus offered him a wry grin, "I can imagine."   
  
     "Well if you can, then I'd assume you'd rather not," James huffed as he pulled back on his Gryffindor robes.   
  
    Suddenly Sirius grimaced. "What?" Remus inquired.   
  
     "My _cousin_ kissed me," he wiped at his lips as James laughed.   
  
     "Apparently Bellatrix is going with Frederick Nott. What a match made in hell, eh?" he sat down next to Remus. "I've got to say, I am glad that's over. Fantastic prank, though, Seer. Maybe our best yet."   
  
     "Too bad Peter had to miss all this," Sirius said, sitting down next to James and Remus.   
  
     "He'll be here for the next one," James said confidently.   
  
    The group walked down to the Great Hall and sat down to their breakfasts. A few moments later, Melissa and Tessa walked over to where the boys were and sat down with them.   
  
     "Hey," Sirius said to them through a mouthful of toast, spraying Melissa with crumbs.   
  
     "Lovely, Sirius. Really, you have the etiquette of a dead mule," she said, wiping the crumbs off her robes.   
  
     "Where were you lot this morning?" Tessa asked.   
  
     "Sleeping, where else?" Remus told her, reaching for the teapot.   
  
     "Look," she said and pointed over at the Slytherin table. They were all glaring over at the Gryffindors, occasionally pulling into small huddles to talk privately. "Apparently _someone_…"  
  
    Melissa cut her off, "Or _someones_."   
  
     "Quite." Tessa agreed, "Or someones, broke into their Common Room and destroyed it. As I was walking in I overheard a Fifth Year complaining that every time she went into her dorm room, the doorknob would tell her 'Gryffindor rules and Slytherin drools'. Quite an accomplishment for whoever concocted this prank..." Then she just shrugged her shoulders a bit, grabbed a slice of toast and walked back over towards Lily, Alice, Rebecca and Frank.   
  
    Melissa hopped up to follow her and at the last moment leaned over to the boys and muttered quietly, "Especially if they're normally just a bunch of First Year wankers." Then she grinned widely and walked over to her other friends.   
  
     "If Melissa were a boy, she's make a perfect Marauder," James observed.   
  
     "Indeed," Sirius agreed grinning.   
  
     "Although if she knew, who's to say Nackle or McGonagall won't figure it out. Talk about detentions, we'll be polishing trophies until fourth year at least, Remus said as he spread some jam across his toast.   
  
     "You're overreacting Remmy. I don't think the detentions will go longer than the end of our second year," Sirius said brightly.   
  
     "Fantastic," he mumbled. "Bloody fantastic."   
  
  
  
    _Author's Note: I wanted to address Chocolate Taco and Kanaloas Wrath's comments: When I recieved Chocolate Taco's comment, I must've been busy and I totally didn't register what you meant, but when Kanaloas Wrath made the same comment, I was like- woah, I'd better go check this chick out to make sure I'm not writing the same thing **accidentally** because I'd never heard of her before. Imagine my surprise when I open her page and see The Marauders and The Gryffindor Five. The first could've easily been a coincidence, I haven't been using the most creative name possible, but the latter? How likely is that? So I tried to open it and it wouldn't. Then I opened The Marauders and I nearly chucked my computer across my room when, much to my surprise, **my** story was plagiarized there, word for word. The only changes that I really noticed, not that I read it through beginning to end, was the slight change in the title, and the fact that she, admittedly, came up with far better chapter titles. And somewhere along the way she gave Professor Kettleburn a strange name. I just left him Professor Kettleburn, since, after all, he does retire during Harry's era.   
  
    I'd like to state, for the record, so to speak, that **I** own Melissa Denezyuk and Cortessa Maris through and through. Clearly JKR owns the name Longbottom and Alice, when she eventually becomes a Longbottom, but they're definately my characterizations at the moment.   
  
    Unfortunately, the only proof I have that these characters are mine is the dates upon the Harry Potter Dialogue boards, where I first posted the story. A week later, from what I can figure, it began to show up here. I didn't know this until **today**, when I was alerted by that second comment and by a girl on the HP boards who noticed she was writing the Gryffindor Five (which is basically finished there, and I bet if I hadn't brought this all to the attention on the moderators of the site, Whitelighter3 probably would've had exactly what I've written again under her name).   
  
    Although, I suppose slightly more proof would exist along the lines that I can explain all the inconsistencies in my piece, that I can tell you the meanings, as dorky as some are, behind nearly all the names and crazed ideas. I read through all the comments for the piece under her name and the replies she made to them. Some are spot on and some are complete and total b.s.   
  
    I'm sorry this rant is nearly as long as the chapter, but **nothing** boils my blood like plagarism, and I've never had it happen to me before. And I've certainly never actually done it. I'd be inclined to think that if Whitelighter3 ever decides to actually write something of her own, any of her readers will probably notice that our writing styles differ, since I'm often accused of writing as though I'm writing a grocery list.   
  
    Oh, and should whomever it was that asked what Nackle meant read this, it **does** have a meaning! When I was in high school, I had a study hall in the Chemistry classroom and a kid who'd never had chemistry was in there with me. He was reading containers one day and read one as Nackle, it was pretty funny and I never forgot it. Potions seems like a magical sort of chemistry, so his name is based on a very common compound. Aside from that, he's a pretty abrasive man, just like salt (NaCl).   
  
    If any of you actually know this Whitelighter3, do give her a big kick in the head for me, would you? She's caused me a massive headache and major amount of annoyance today. And if anyone notices a The Marauders: Year Two popping up on her site, give me a holler, will you? Because hopefully you've noticed that I've already begun posting one here, and if they are the same word for word again, I assure you, I'm the brainchild behind it. Apparently the only skill she has with a wordprocessor is the ability to use the copy and paste buttons.   
  
    Happy reading all. 
_


	10. “Mushve mishishd oo!”

    Two days later, Remus came tearing up the steps and into the boys dormitory. James and Sirius were sitting on the floor playing an interesting version of Wizarding chess. Each time one captured another's piece, not only did the piece get pummeled, but the winning piece's owner got to cast a hex on the loser. When Remus walked in he noticed James had a tail and was wearing a pink dress. Sirius had six fingers on each hand and his head seemed abnormal round. Just as James's castle attacked one of Sirius's bishops, James pulled out his wand and cast the jelly-legs curse, causing Sirius's legs to fold onto themselves.   
  
     "How useless, James. It's not like we're standing up," Sirius commented.   
  
     "We've been at this too long, I'm running out of creative hexes," James shot back.   
  
     "Look," Remus said, bounding over to them. "Peter turned his cat green!"   
  
     "So?" Sirius said, looking back at the chessboard. "His mother will give him hell for that, I bet."   
  
     "No, you don't get it,_ he turned his cat green_. He's fine. Completely! He'll be back next week!"   
  
    James and Sirius both jumped up and the three danced around the room, whooping and hollering, in the process knocking over several stacks of books and the chess set.   
  
    The door opened slightly and Frank peered in. "Lunatics," he muttered. "Absolute lunatics." Then he walked out, apparently deciding that whatever he'd come for was not all that important.   
  
    The Marauders ran down the stairs and into the Common Room. "Peter's coming back on Monday," James declared to Lily and company, who were sitting in the corner.   
  
     "Really? That's great news," Alice said as she smiled widely. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.   
  
     "What're you lot up to?" Sirius asked, looking down at the cards sitting on the table.   
  
    Lily quickly reached over and snapped them up, "Absolutely none of your business, Sirius Black."   
  
    Sirius and James looked at one another with manic glints in their eyes. Remus just rolled his eyes and took several steps back from his friends.   
  
    James quickly jumped forward and pulled on Lily's long, red pigtails and Sirius took the chance to grab the deck of cards out of her hand.   
  
    Lily jumped up, "Ohhh, James Potter, you'd better run because if I catch you, Peter will be back just in time to go visit _you_ at St. Mungo's!" She began chasing James around the room.   
  
     "Give me the cards, Sirius," Tessa said, holding out her hand.   
  
     "Sorry, luv," he replied and began to look through them, reading them out loud. "1. What was your most embarrassing moment?" He looked at the girls and then at the next card. "12. If you could marry anyone, right now, who would it be?" He looked at them again. "What is this?" he asked, thoroughly bewildered.   
  
     "None of your business, luv," Tessa said, sarcastically. "It's a girl game, now give it." A loud crash distracted them all as Lily, pummeling James, knocked them both over the couch and onto the floor. At that point, Alice and Melissa rushed over and hauled Lily off James, who was now sporting one heck of a shiner. Lily was struggling against Alice and Melissa, but had little chance of winning.   
  
     "Lemme go, Mel. Lemme go. He pulled my hair. I hate it when he pulls my hair," she shrieked. The two of them pulled Lily towards their dormitory stairs and a moment later she was out of sight. While he was distracted, Tessa took the moment to grab the cards out of Sirius's hand and make a beeline for the other girls.   
  
     "I was right all along," James groaned as he sat up and tentatively touched his eye. "She is completely and totally deranged." Sirius and Remus both chuckled and helped James to the couch he'd just fallen over.   
  
     "What's that?" Remus said, pointing to a few pieces of paper on the floor. He walked over, picked them up, and gasped.   
  
     "What, Remmy?" Sirius asked.   
  
     "It's their answers!"   
  
     "Huh?" James asked.   
  
     "We've got to get those cards," Sirius said. At that moment Frank and Rebecca climbed in through the portrait. "I've an idea." He strolled over to Rebecca.   
  
     "Hey, Rebecca," Sirius greeted her. "Your friends and I have just gotten into a bit of a tiff over this stilly game they were playing.   
  
     "Veritaserum?" she said bitterly. "I _hate_ that game."   
  
     "Yup, I believe that's the one. They said only girls can play it, but we'd like to take a crack at it. They got mad at us for no real reason, but I'm pretty sure they're done playing, can you pinch the cards for us, so we can see what this game is all about?"   
  
     "I don't see why you'd want to play. It's really a stupid game. Some of the questions are ridiculous, most of them really. And I thought guys would be far less likely to like sitting around chatting about who they're going to marry and how many kids they want," Rebecca said and then saw the determined look on Sirius's face. "Why do I suspect you have an ulterior motive, Sirius Black?"   
  
    Sirius put on his best innocent face, "We're really just bored and curious. Never a good combination with us, you know."   
  
     "Oi, do I ever. I've never had so many Slytherins glare at me in the hallway."   
  
     "Are you implying we had something to do with that?" Sirius asked.   
  
     "You lot? Never," she replied, the last word dripping with cynicism. At that moment she broke out into a grin, "I'll see what I can do about getting you the cards." Rebecca dug into her bag and handed a book to Frank, "Here, this is your, mum sent it to me." Then she headed for her dormitory.   
  
     "Nice shiner," Frank commented to James. "How'd you acquire that?"   
  
     "Lily."   
  
     "No way. Lily?" Frank burst into laughter and the three retold the tale of the great chase. By the time they finished, Rebecca had returned.   
  
     "Here you go," she handed over the cards to Sirius. "You're going to regret playing this." She turned around and headed right back to where she'd come from.   
  
     "Your sister's not half bad, Frank," Sirius said.   
  
    Frank glared at him, "I was under the impression you were attached to Tessa, Black. Stay away from my sister."   
  
    James and Remus laughed at that comment.   
  
     "I am, I am. Bloody girl, won't give in and admit she's got no idea what we're doing yet," Sirius muttered.   
  
     "Bloody boy, won't give in and admit he's got no idea what they're doing either," James said as Remus grabbed the deck of cards from Sirius before he attacked James.   
  
     "So," Remus interrupted. "This game, Veritaserum, anyone familiar with it?"   
  
     "The game from hell, according to Becca. She hates it," Frank commented. "I've always been curious about it, though."   
  
     Remus pulled the papers out of his cloak pocket and grinned. "We found the girl's answers. We just needed the cards to know what the heck they were the answers to."   
  
    Frank's eyes widened, "Bloody brilliant."   
  
    James shrugged and smiled, "We try. Well, four girls, four boys, shall we pass the papers out, one to a man? We'll take turn reading the questions."   
  
    Remus nodded and handed a paper to each one, face down, keeping the last one for himself. "I'll read the first question." He opened the pack and dumped the cards into his hand. "1. What was your most embarrassing moment?" Then he paused. "You know guys, the girls probably wouldn't want us reading these."   
  
     "Someday, Remmy, we will manage to kill that thing you call a conscience, for today however, just ignore it," Sirius commented, and then grabbed his paper. "Well, I've got Melissa. Oh well this isn't a real answer, says she's never had a most embarrassing moment." He grinned wickedly, "We'll have to fix that for her sometime."   
  
    James shook his head. "Let's see, Lily says 'When Lucius Malfoy called me a Mudblood in front of the entire Defense Against the Dark Arts class'. When did that bastard do that?" James asked, rather angry.   
  
     "The day after you shrunk your head in Potions," Frank said. "I remember that, I felt really bad for her."   
  
     "Mudblood is a low blow," Remus commented quietly. James continued to sit there seething.   
  
     "Well, Alice's is pretty amusing," Remus continued glancing down at his own paper. "Apparently she was attacked by pixies when she was nine, they picked her up and hung her upside down, exposing her knickers to her whole primary school." The four boys chuckled. "Frank?"   
  
    Frank looked down at his paper and laughed out loud, "Well, according to Tessa, her most embarrassing moment was snapping and kissing Sirius Black one night. 'Haven't figured out how to get rid of him since' she added after that." James, Remus and Frank started to laugh as Sirius glowered at them.   
  
    James took the cards from Remus. "2. What do you want to be when you grow up?" He wrinkled his nose. "That's not a very interesting one." He looked at his paper, "Lily has no idea."   
  
     "Neither does Alice," Remus put in.   
  
     "Nor Tessa," Frank countered.   
  
     "Melissa claims to want to spend her entire life developing the perfect parchment," Sirius chuckled. "I suspect a bit of sarcasm in that one." Sirius reached for the cards. "3. How many kids do you want to have?" He paused. "Who cares, let's look for a good one here. 4…. no. 5… uh huh. 6… hmm, ok. 6. If you had to feed one of the people playing this game to a hippogriff right now, who would it be and why?"   
  
     "Well that's a bit nasty," Frank commented. The others shrugged, curious as to how girls would react to the question.   
  
    Sirius picked up the paper, "Melissa says…" he took a second looking for the corresponding answer. "Ah, says herself because it's the easiest answer." He cocked his head to the side for a second, "That seems like a cheat answer."   
  
     "Well, Lily's got the same one," James replied.   
  
     "Ditto for Tessa."   
  
     "And Alice," Remus concluded.   
  
     Frank clucked his tongue, "Dull girls." He reached for the deck. "7. Who do you hate?" He looked at the other a bit surprised and then looked at his own paper frowning and then shook his head. "Sorry, a rare burst of chivalry wins on this one. I really don't think Tessa wants anyone to know this answer."   
  
     "Do you really think any of the girls want any of us knowing any of these answers?" Sirius asked.   
  
    Frank just shrugged. "I'm not telling and I'll eat the paper if you try to grab it and read it yourself."   
  
    Remus jumped in, "Well Alice hates Nackle. Her and every other Gryffindor, I'd think."   
  
    James read his paper and then glared at it, "Well then," he said in a huffy tone. "Lily apparently hates me." The others looked at him surprised. He just shrugged. "Sirius?"   
  
     "Melissa hates…" he glanced down at the paper again. "Bellatrix Black? Wow. I wasn't expecting that one. I'm thinking I don't even want to know why."   
  
    Remus took the deck back, "Hmm… 12. If you could marry anyone, right now, who would it be? According to Alice…" he stopped. "Oh." He looked a bit perplexed. "Sorry, in an attack of conscience, I'll have to pull a Frank. I'm not answering this one."   
  
    The other three grumbled, but Remus held firm.   
  
     "Fine. Fine," Frank grumbled. "Well Tessa," he scanned the paper and burst into laughter again. "Sirius, she'd marry Sirius right now. The girl must be more of a madcap than I'd previously given her credit for."   
  
     "Did she not claim to regret kissing me just a few questions ago?" Sirius asked, perplexed. The three other boys just shrugged.   
  
     "Girls," Frank commented and the other three nodded in agreement.   
  
    Sirius jumped in, "Melissa is apparently adamant about not getting married. Sorry chaps."   
  
    James looked down and then glanced over at Remus, "Well apparently Lily would like to be Lily Lupin."   
  
     "What?" Remus asked, visibly startled.   
  
     "I guess all those, we're just friends lines were only coming from your side, eh Remmy?" Sirius joked.   
  
    Remus looked rather uncomfortable. Then he rolled his eyes and muttered, "Girls" with a pained expression on his face. "Alright then, he announced. Enough of this game." He grabbed the other three sheets of parchment before the boys could stop him and held out his wand "_Inscendio_" he said and the parchments burst into flame, leaving only a heap of ashes in front of them.   
  
    The other three boys let out yells of anger for spoiling their fun. Remus looked right at James and Sirius, "Hanging out with you gits may be beginning to destroy my conscience, but hopefully, I'm wearing off on you two, too. That was wrong. We shouldn't have been reading them and we'd flip out if they ever invaded our privacy like that." He grabbed the deck of cards and walked to the bottom of the girls dormitory. "Rebecca!" he yelled up the steps. A moment later she came running down, he thrust the cards into her hand. "Thanks, but I can see exactly what you mean about this game."   
  
    Rebecca just raised her eyebrow and then patted his shoulder, walking back up the stairs.   
  
  
  


~~*~~

  
  
  
  
    Early Monday morning, as James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin slept, the fourth Marauder climbed through the portrait hole, up the stairs to the boys dormitory and through the entrance to the First Years dorm room. He put down a book bag jammed with school work and a duffle bag of assorted clothes and other items. He had the look of a boy who had lost a lot of weight in a little time, but not in a healthy manner. Nearly as skinny as James now, he still appeared rather sickly. The large bandage covering his neck only aided this appearance. However, had you seen this boy at this moment, all that you would've noticed was the massive smile on his face and look of absolute joy in his eyes as he surveyed the room and listened to his friends sleep.   
  
    Peter sat down quietly at his desk, not wishing to awaken any of them. He pulled out his herbology text to finish a very large assignment that had been due for the rest of them before the break. He would still be behind in all the practical assessments in his class, but Peter had worked very hard to keep up with the paperwork. In the back of his mind, the entire time he'd been getting better was the worry that he's lost his magical abilities. If that was true, he had wanted to make sure that he knew as much about the magical world as possible before he was officially removed from it.   
  
    He would never know how very close he had been to losing his abilities; however, the doctors had known and they were absolutely positive that without the added effect of the few pints his friends had contributed to him, he would be a squib. Peter would never thank them though, as this was perhaps the biggest and only secret James Potter and Sirius Black would both go to the grave without revealing to anyone.   
  
    Just as Peter was finishing up his bibliography, he heard a stirring from James's bed. He grinned slightly. _Always the first to get up,_ he thought. _But Sirius will be right behind him. It's almost as though their bodies run on the same clock._ Sure enough, before James had quite managed to begin trying up his curtains, Peter could head Sirius moving about his bed. A moment later, Peter saw a hand snake around the curtain of both James and Sirius's bed as they began to tie back their curtains. They even had a method to that, Peter noticed. Sirius and James would tie back the curtains that separated their beds from one another and cheerfully greet one another. Then they'd go about tying back the other three sides on their respective beds.   
  
    James and Sirius then bounded from their beds, already chattering and made their way to the bathroom. Peter chuckled slightly at the fact they didn't even notice him, but he had overheard something along the lines of 'but if Remus distracts her, I can use the _Changerous_ charm… perfect revenge'. He knew they were already plotting. The water turned on in the bathroom, first the sounds of one of the sinks, quickly followed the by rush of water from the shower. About ten minutes later, there was a loud thump from Frank's bed and he slid out from the curtains, leaving them drawn for the time being, rubbing his head and muttering to himself. He started towards the bathroom, stopped and then spun around, looking at Peter.   
  
    Still rubbing his head, he grinned and appeared to be searching for what to say. "Morning, Pete." Then he stumbled back towards the bathroom.   
  
     "Morning, Frank," Peter called after him, putting his parchment and quill back into his book bag. Five minutes or so later, Sirius emerged from the bathroom, still brushing his teeth. He looked over towards his bed, searching for something, and happened to catch a glimpse of Peter. He gagged on his toothpaste, causing Peter to chuckle and ran back into the bathroom to haul out a sopping wet James.   
  
     "Pete!" James yelled.   
  
     "Mushve mishishd oo," Sirius said with a mouthful of toothpaste.   
  
     "Huh?" Pete replied, making a face.   
  
     "We missed you!" James translated for him.   
  
     "Would you shut up!" Remus roared from his bed. The three chuckled.   
  
     "No," Peter yelled back at him. A second later Remus's head was poking out of the foot of his bed.   
  
     "Peter?"   
  
     "No, Peeves. Of course it's Peter," James yelped and Sirius ran back to the bathroom to spit out his toothpaste.   
  
    Remus, still looking dazed from sleep, mumbled, "Hey Pete. Glad your back. Shut up." And crawled back under the covers.   
  
     "Nice to know some things will never change," Peter grinned.   
  
    Much to everyone's surprise, a moment later Remus appeared from his bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, all four Marauders made their way down to breakfast for the first time in nearly three months.   
  
  
  


~~*~~

  
  
  
  
     "You did that to Filch's cat? Clearly you've all lost your minds while I was gone," Pete said as he choked on a piece of sausage. "His cat… holy Merlin."   
  
    Remus and James smiled proudly.   
  
     "I hear your Slytherin prank went well too," Peter commented. "Although I've already heard murmurs in the hallways about revenge."   
  
    Sirius shrugged and bit into a piece of bacon. Then his self constraint crumbled and he broke into a wide grin, quietly reliving the actions of the Slytherin prank for Peter's benefit. In the middle of his explanation Frank and Rebecca had joined the four Marauders. They settled in and listened to his retelling. Near the end, the other four girls of the 'Gryffindor five' had walked into the Great Hall and sat down with the Marauders. Tessa sat right next to Sirius but was Lily as far away from James as she could get. When the bell rang to signal the beginning of morning classes, the group started off.   
  
     "You suppose Lily's still mad at you?" Remus asked James.   
  
     "I certainly hope so. It was nice not listening to her chattering away about Transfiguration or some other daft subject first thing in the morning for a change," James grumbled.   
  
     "Why's Lily mad at you?" Peter piped in.   
  
     "Because she's a know-it-all, fusspot, prissy, tattletale nag," James said a bit too loudly. Up at the front of the group Lily had overheard him.   
  
    She spun around. "Know-it-all, fusspot, prissy, tattletale nag?" She countered, each word getting slightly shriller than the last. "Better than a lazy, no good, idiotic, big headed, coasting prankster with the overall IQ of a sleeping flobberworm," she hissed and then pulled out her wand. "I'm so sick of you and your oh-so-superior attitude, James Potter._ Vindictricus_!" She didn't even stop to watch the effect of her spell as she stormed off towards the transfiguration classroom.   
  
    However, her spell caught the attention of the rest of the group. None of them had recognized the spell, but its effect was apparent immediately. James's head began to swell like a balloon. It continued to grow and grow until James toppled over and had to lay down. The entire group stood transfixed as James head reached the size of a watermelon and continued growing still. At this point both Melissa and Remus took off towards the Hospital Wing with the same idea in mind. Their actions broke the trance of the others, and as they darted down the corridor they could hear the remaining six Gryffindors shooting various spells at James, trying to shrink his head back to its proper size.   
  
    By the time Melissa and Remus arrived back, with Madame Pomfry in tow, the group had succeeded in stopping the spell, but not reversing it, and, in the process, the had managed to turn James's head blue, then red, leaving him with an odd purple tint and he appeared to be sprouting little lights that were burning up his hair. The boy was yelling at the others and obviously trying to avoid shrieking in pain and nearby, a group of Slytherins stood laughing like hyenas.   
  
    Madame Pomfry reached James and stopped for a moment, the look on her face changed and the sides of her mouth twitched, it appeared as though she was trying not to laugh. She quickly immobilized James and then conjured up a stretcher, taking him off with her towards the Hospital Wing and chiding all the students to hurry off to class.   
  
     "We're gone less than ten minutes and you set him on fire?" Melissa asked.   
  
     "It's actually a pretty common occurrence, Melissa," Remus commented. "What surprised me was that he was purple."   
  
    The group made their way to the Transfiguration class discussing James's strange state the rest of the way. Upon entering, they informed Professor McGonagall that James was in the Hospital Wing and broke off to sit down. The girls flocked over to Lily to try and figure out what on Earth she'd done to him and give her the blow by blow after she'd left. The three Marauders sat down in their seats in the back of the class.   
  
     "Man, it's good to be back," Peter commented, chuckling slightly at the memory of James.   
  
  
  


~~*~~

  
  
  
  
    For the next week, the Marauders made sure to constantly comment on James's "big head" and warn him to watch out. They'd learned that the spell Lily had cast forced James to appear as she saw him, which only caused them to be even more amused.   
  
    None of the other Marauders realized that this was the start of a war that would continue for another fifteen months between James and Lily. While earlier they had managed to put aside their differences for their friend's sake, the two had completely had it now and were no longer in the mood to deal with one another for any extended period. Before the second week ended, James had managed to turn Lily's hair green one day and purple another, before turning in her Charms homework, he cast a spell so it appeared to be written entirely in Swahili, whenever possible he'd pull her pigtails because he knew she hated it, after learning their first levitation charm James had worked hard to master it, thus allowing him to levitate Lily one day in the Common Room, not only scaring her half to death, but when he accidentally broke the charm too early, she fell, exposing a pair of pink knickers to the entire house… only an added bonus in the war of embarrassment, as far as James was concerned. However, Lily wasn't taking this sitting down, the day after Lily walked into the Great Hall with green hair, James walked into the Great Hall with no hair, after turning it purple, she retaliated and cast a tricky little spell that turned his uniform into the girls version, knee socks and all. After translating her homework into Swahili for Charms, later that afternoon James found his quidditch magazines had been charmed into magazines that told beauty tips and health secrets, with a little note attached that if he expected to be able to pull of the skirt and knee socks correctly, he'd have to do a bit of work. After exposing her knickers to the entire House James hadn't received any sort of retribution… which at first he'd taken as a sign of her admitting defeat, but was now slightly worrying him.   
  
    The other Marauders quickly noticed this change in both Lily and James. One afternoon James came sprinting in through the portrait hole and headed straight for the boys dormitory, cackling his, what Peter had quickly took to calling, Lunatic Lily laugh. At first the other's had thought that Peter was crazy, but they'd hastily realized that it was in fact James who was missing a few marbles on the subject of Lily Evans and the title Lunatic Lily cackle wound up sticking around. A few moments after James and his cackle had retreated, a soaking wet, red faced Lily sloshed her way through the portrait hole and then stopped to lean against the wall. Completely unaware of the three sets of eyes of her, her eyes suddenly lit up with a crazed look and a cackle, nearly identical to the Lunatic Lily cackle of James's, was emitted from her mouth and she sprinted over to the small bookshelf on the other side of the Common Room, grabbed a book and headed for her room. The three Marauders looked at one another and shook their heads.   
  
     "Still betting those ten galleons, Remus?" Sirius inquired.   
  
     "Yup," he said. "Speaking of deranged couples, whom we will someday get to mock mercilessly for their early actions, how are you and Tessa? I've noticed she doesn't sit with us anymore at breakfast."   
  
     "We broke up," Sirius said. "I knew there was something I kept forgetting to tell you lot."   
  
     "Oi!" Peter exclaimed. "How long ago?"   
  
     "Two weeks maybe?" Sirius closed his eyes in thought. "You know, I'm not even sure anymore. Shortly after Lily turned James's head into a massive bowling ball, but before the two really went insane I think."   
  
    Peter turned to Remus, "Did you ever ask…"  
  
    Remus cut him off abruptly, "About the hollygolumps? Yes I did, Pete. They're not so bad."   
  
     "The whats? What the heck is a hollygolump?" Peter looked confused. "I was going to ask about Me…"  
  
    Remus cut him off again. "No, I didn't. Now shut up," he hissed.   
  
    It was far too late for any mercy from Sirius. "Now I really doubt Peter was going to ask about himself… which would lead me to wonder, who else could he be talking about?" He tapped his finger under his chin three times. "Could it be the lovely Melissa Denezyuk?"   
  
    Remus blushed bright red.   
  
    Sirius slung his arm around Peter, "Aw, Petey, our little boy is growing up. Before you know it, we'll have to explain the birds and the bees to him." He glanced over at Peter who was chuckling. "I'd say I'll leave the talk up to you… but I'm under the impression you still believe in the stork, so I guess I'll have to do it." Sirius was shifting into overdrive; the other two boys could sense it but were helpless to stop it. He bounded off the chair and onto the couch next to Remus. "Now Remmy, when two people love each other very much…"  
  
     "Oh gosh," Remus groaned and pushed Sirius off the couch and onto the floor with a thud.   
  
     "So what do you plan on doing about this, Remus?" Sirius asked, trying to look serious as he sprawled across the floor. "Drag her off, medieval maiden in distress style, to the astronomy tower? No, that doesn't seem like a suitable style for you. Hmmm… don't suppose you'd be into handcuffs? Or perhaps you are," Sirius raised an eyebrow. Remus pitched a book at him.   
  
     "We're eleven. Where do you find this stuff? Is there a book of crude and inappropriate things to say that you memorized? I'm not planning on doing anything at all about it," Remus said quietly.   
  
     "I reckon he almost hopes that if he ignores it long enough, it'll just go away," Peter commented.   
  
    At that moment a loud thumping noise occurred and James ran past them, still cackling his Lunatic Lily laugh, holding what appeared to be water balloons and a decent sized iguana, and then disappeared out the portrait hole.   
  
    The three Marauders burst into laughter.   
  
     "Good Merlin, what is he going to do with that _iguana_?" Sirius finally spit out.   
  
    Remus, laughing so hard he was nearly crying, just shook his head.   
  
     "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Peter replied. "If not, we can always just follow the screams."   
  
    As though that scene wasn't odd enough, a mere moment after the boys managed to compose themselves, Lily, also still cackling, walked past them dropping pieces of chocolate in a trail to the portrait hole. As she reached the portrait she swung it open and waited a moment. The boys sat there watching her. Then Remus's eyes followed the trail backwards to where a small kimono dragon was actually following the chocolate trail right to Lily, who still had not stopped cackling. A few moments later both Lily and the odd lizard were out of the Common Room.   
  
    The Marauders looked at one another wide eyed.   
  
     "Where the heck did she get one of those?" Remus asked.   
  
     "Transfigured something, maybe? But that's pretty advanced magic," Sirius commented.   
  
     "That thing is gonna _eat_ James's iguana," Peter said quite seriously and a moment later the three burst into laughter again. 


	11. Love Bites

    "You killed my iguana!" James hissed at Lily.   
  
    "Yea, well you broke my desk!"   
  
    "Your desk was a giant kimono dragon trying to eat me!" he retorted angrily.   
  
    Lily shot James a glare that could knock out a dementor and settled down into her bed. In the last twenty minutes, James and Lily had hexed two reptiles, three teachers and each other. Neither reptile was left alive, the three teachers had quickly repaired the damage the weak spells had done to them, and James and Lily were both now housed in the Hospital Wing, covered in hexes and reptile bites. Even Madame Pomfry had been speechless for a moment when they'd been dragged half conscious into her infirmary by Professor Nackle and Professor Binns after Professor McGonagall had taken one hundred points from her own house and walked away muttering about detentions until seventh year for both of them, carefully favoring the arm that had been bitten by the kimono dragon a few moments prior.   
  
    "I'm never talking to you again," Lily shot at James and rolled over in her bed to stare at the wall.   
  
    "Well good riddance." James settled back into his bed and groaned. That ridiculous dragon had nearly eaten off his entire foot and regrowing bones was dreadful business. I really should've listened to Remus, James thought. Then I wouldn't have been in this mess… and I'd have all my toes right now. He glared over at the lump with the messy red hair sticking out of the top. Then he picked up his wand and cast a simple spell to make the curtains close around his bed. When he put his wand back down, he noticed a book sitting on the little table and picked it up. Well, maybe this can keep my mind off of some of the pain, he thought as he began to page through Hogwarts: A History. About an hour into it, he heard the door open at the end of the ward and brisk steps.   
  
    "Ms. Evans," came the brisk voice of Professor McGonagall through the curtain, "May I ask you what on Earth you were thinking?"   
  
    "I suppose I wasn't, Professor," she replied meekly.   
  
    "Where, in the name of Merlin, did you get a kimono dragon?"   
  
    "I transfigured my desk," she said is a voice barely above a whisper.   
  
    "You transfigured your desk," McGonagall replied shrilly, in his mind James could already see the teacher raising from her chair and waving her arms a bit wildly. There was a moment of hesitation and then she repeated, in a voice filled with the slightest hint of awe, "You transfigured your desk?"   
  
    "Yes, ma'am," Lily replied. "Like the way you turned your desk into a pig on the first day of classes. I've been working on it for a few weeks straight and well… it finally worked tonight."   
  
    "That's advanced magic, Ms. Evans," Professor McGonagall said, at a loss for more words at the moment.   
  
    "Um, yes, Professor, I know…" she trailed off uncertainly. Then in a very quiet voice, "Do I… I mean… do I really have detention every day till seventh year?" She sounded near ready to cry.   
  
    "Not quite, no," the professor said. "But for the remainder of this year, yes. You will spend every evening in your dormitory unless otherwise specified by myself or another member of the faculty. Several of those evenings, you will help tutor other first years who are not as… advanced as yourself, in the Great Hall. Some you will spend cleaning various areas of the castle. I'm certain I will not see a repeat performance of what happened tonight again."   
  
    Lily nodded vigorously.   
  
    "Very well then, Ms. Evans, I expect to see you in the Great Hall tomorrow after supper, provided Madame Pomfry had seen fit to discharge you by then."   
  
    James could hear her shoes clicking as they retreated from Lily's bed and headed toward his own, a moment later the curtain rustled.   
  
    "Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall addressed him.   
  
    "Professor," he replied, his eyebrows knitting together in worry.   
  
    "I'm sure you were able to overhear Ms. Evan's punishment."   
  
    "Yes ma'am."   
  
    "Yours is the same. Your first evening out of here, I expect you in the Great Hall, tutoring students. You're very talent, Mr. Potter, these pranks are a complete waste of said talent. One hundred points have been taken from Gryffindor for yours and Ms. Evan's actions this evening, it is highly unlikely we will win the House Cup now. Keep that in mind, Mr. Potter. You're capable of so much more than this." Then she turned on her heel and marched out of the infirmary, leaving Lily and James to contemplate the rest of the House's reaction tomorrow when they saw that they were now in last place for the House Cup.   


---

  
     The following day, James endured plenty of teasing from the other Marauder's, especially regarding the dragon bites which the other three took to calling "love bites". He was almost relieved to escape them for a few hours to go down to the Great Hall and tutor a few of the other First Years. Shortly after he left, the other three opened their textbooks and began working.   
  
     "This is absolutely useless," Sirius muttered. "Really now, in everyday wizarding life, how often do you need to understand the finer parts of a potion that makes writing wiggle. I ask you, is there a point to all this?" He looked at the other two.   
  
     "Wiggling writing?" Remus repeated and tapped his chin while a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Nope, not at all. Exist just to bother you, Seer."   
  
     "Just wanted verification on that point, thanks Remmy," Sirius replied as he dropped his head back into the book. A few moments later though, he gave up with a sigh of disgust. "That's it, I don't even understand all this."   
  
    "So go ask James to tutor you then," Peter snapped as he grabbed his History book. He was writing a very dull essay on vampire hunters of the twelfth century.   
  
    Sirius broke out into a wide grin, "Smashing idea, lads." He grabbed up his books and headed for the portrait hole before the others even realized what had happened.   
  
    "Oi vey, poor James," Remus said with a grin.   
  
    "Poor everyone trying to get anything done in the Great Hall," Peter corrected and then leaned back in the overstuffed armchair he was sitting in. "I don't think I can do any more of this tonight. It's putting me right to sleep."   
  
    "I sympathize," Remus said, gesturing at his own History book. "Just wait till you start the Herbology homework."   
  
    Peter groaned.   
  
    Suddenly, Remus sat up straight. "I have an idea. Want to see a passage way I found while you were in the hospital?"   
  
    "A secret one?" Peter asked, his eyes shining.   
  
    "Yup, I told the others, but we never actually went to explore it. What do you say, acromantula survivors unite, then?" Remus grinned.   
  
    "Sounds like a plan, let's go," Peter jumped up.   
  
    "Grab your wand, mate, I have no idea where this passage winds up. For all I know, I found a secret exit out of Azkaban," Remus said, looking quite serious. His eyes narrowed in thought for a moment, "Come to think of it, Pete, maybe we ought to wait for the others, who knows what will be at the other end."   
  
    Peter made a face at Remus.   
  
    "There's just safety in numbers, you know that."   
  
    "Well, Azkaban's quite a bit away, what if we just walked into it for a while and see what happens. I'm sure we'll be fine, the worst I can see happening is it emptying into Nackle or Filch's office," Peter said as he reached for his wand and headed for the door.   
  
    "Come on Remus," he whined. "Whatever happened to acromantula survivors unite?" he asked as he gestured towards Remus's hand, which had a nasty scar going across it and his own neck where the wounds were still bright red around all the scars.   
  
    Remus sighed and then grinned, "Alright, I double even Dumbledore would allow a passage straight to Azkaban."   
  
    The two walked out of the Common Room and headed towards the third floor corridor.   
  
    "I don't remember what side it was on," Remus said. "You look on that side and I'll look on this side. It's a statue of a witch with a really ugly hump."   
  
    "Lovely," Peter murmured. "Keep an eye out for Filch, Remus." He started down the corridor.   
  
    "And that bloody cat," Remus added before moving more towards the wall.   
  
    The two slowly made their way down the long corridor, after nearly ten minutes Remus made an 'ah-ha' sound, but before he could even call out to Peter he heard the ominous soft sound of a cat's meow.   
  
    "Bloody hell," he muttered as the cat shot off down the hall. "Oi, Pete," he said louder. "Over here and hurry up, the cat found us and I think it's still mad about the whole hair thing."   
  
    Peter ran over to Remus. He looked and Remus and then the statue. "Well, what do we do now?"   
  
    Remus took out his wand and tapped the witch's hump. "_Dissendium_." The witch's hump parted and Peter gasped. "Watch out now, it's like a slide sort of thing." There was a distant meow. "Go, Pete. No time to double think this now!" Peter jumped through the hole in the statue, quickly followed by Remus. A moment later the gap in the statue closed and the boys were sliding briefly though the dark.   
  
    "Oi," Peter yelled when he hit the ground, a moment later Remus landed on top of him.   
  
    "Sorry Pete."   
  
    "There's no lights, how are we supposed to see where to go?" Peter asked.   
  
    "I told you to bring your wand," Remus commented as he pulled his out of his robes. "_Lumos_." As he said it, his wand began to glow at the end, casting a faint light into the tunnel.   
  
    A moment later, Peter muttered the same word and the two headed down the dark corridor.   


~~*~~

  
     "Peter, how long have we been walking?" Remus asked after what seemed like hours of walking along the narrow, stone lines passageway.   
  
     "I don't know…" Peter hesitated. "Exactly how far away _is_ Azkaban?"   
  
     "It's an island Pete. We'd need to cross water somehow and I don't think we're far enough intro the ground to be below the water. Anyway, I was just…" he was cut off as he tripped over a set of steps and smashed into a wall. "Ow! Pete, help."   
  
    Peter reached over and helped Remus untangle his legs from the steps, handing him back the wand he'd dropped.   
  
     "Are you alright, Remus?" Peter asked with a very worried expression on his face.   
  
     "Son of a sea dragon," Remus swore and shoved his hand into his mouth. While breaking his fall, he'd cut open his hand in the same spot where it was scarred from the acromantula.   
  
     "Here," Peter shoved his handkerchief towards Remus. "It's clean."   
  
     "Thanks." Remus wrapped the cloth around his hand tightly.   
  
"_Restraintus_." As he muttered the charm, a few wispy ropes shot out of his wand and tied the cloth to his injured hand. "Wherever we are, it'd better be good."   
  
    The two both looked around and saw that the steps Remus had tripped over led up to a panel in the ceiling. They both walked up the five steps together and paused.   
  
     "Well then, shall we?" Remus asked quietly, bracing a hand against the panel.   
  
     "Right," Peter murmured quietly and both pushed the panel out of the way.   
  
     "Wait," Remus said suddenly. "_Nox_." He waited a second, looking at Peter. "Oi, Pete, put out your wand for a second."   
  
     "Oh, right, right then," Peter repeated the incantation. "Now?"   
  
     "Now," Remus said and they pushed the panel out of the way. "I'll go first," he whispered to Peter.   
  
     "Okay," Peter said with an anxious edge to his voice.   
  
    A moment later Remus had hauled himself up onto the floor of the unknown house. "Come on, Pete," he hissed a moment later.   
  
    Peter grabbed both sides of the hole and hoisted himself through. "Where are we?"   
  
     "I don't know. Keep your wand out. I'm going to shine some light…" Remus sounded very nervous. "_Lumos_."   
  
    Both boys gasped collectively as their heads began to swivel around the basement they were standing in.   
  
     "Great Merlin's trousers…" Peter whispered in an awed tone of voice.   
  
     "Honeydukes," Remus said, bursting into a wide grin.   


~~*~~

  
     "Where are those gits?" Sirius muttered to James a few hours later.   
  
     "You get both of us kicked out of the Great Hall, when I'm already there serving a detention and you have the nerve to call _them_ gits," James snarled at him while chucking the first object he could grab, a bottle of ink, at Sirius's head.   
  
     "Still on about that, are you?" Sirius said in a chipper tone as he ducked, causing the ink bottle to smash on the Common Room wall behind him.   
  
     "Oi, what's this now?" Melissa asked as she crossed the room over to where the boys were. James crossed his arms and glared at her. "You can be as angry as you like with Lily Evan, James, but you had better not bridge that out to include me. I certainly don't possess the skill to turn a desk into a dragon, nor the imagination to even suggest it."   
  
     "It was not a dragon, it was a tiny little kimono dragon. Doesn't take much skill to do _that_," James said as he grabbed up his books and headed for the boys dormitory. "No skill at all."   
  
     "What a git," Melissa mumbled as she took out her wand. For one wild moment, Sirius thought she was going to hex him. "_Reparo_." The shards of glass from the ink jar jumped back together onto the desk. "_Scourgify_." The ink running down the wall and pooling onto the floor disappeared.   
  
     "Thanks Melissa," Sirius said, gesturing to the now vacant seat James had left in his wake. "Want to sit?"   
  
     "No," she said, starting back over towards her friends. "Speaking of gits, Lily has threatened to disown us if we dare to socialize with any of you Marauders. Bit of a hypocritical rule if you ask me, as she keeps on talking to Remus… still, at the moment I find it wiser to stick with her. Wouldn't want a six foot kimono dragon showing up in my bed while I'm sleeping, or somesuch nonsense, now would I?" She tossed Sirius a wicked grin and departed.   
  
    He chuckled and took a deck of cards out to build a card house, hoping he could at least get three layers on before it would blow up. On his sixth attempt, the portrait creaked open and he looked over to see Peter and Remus scurrying into the Common Room looking beside themselves with delight.   
  
     "And what have you two gents been up to this evening?" Sirius ventured casually, tilting his chair back on the last two legs and running his hand through his hair, flattening it. The two exchanged a glance. "What's this?" Sirius shot his chair forward and leaned in towards them. "Come on now, lads. Be mates and do tell."   
  
    Remus reached into his pocket and dumped a few Fizzing Whizbees onto the table. Peter reached into his own robes and drew out two Sugar Quills. Sirius reached for them.   
  
     "Leave one for James," Peter said.   
  
     "I thought you were out of Fizzing Whizbee's," Sirius commented to Remus as he popped one in his mouth.   
  
    Remus grinned widely. "I was. I definitely was."   
  
    Sirius rolled his eyes. "Admittedly, sugar is something worth getting excited over, but this is a bit much, lads. Now, what are you two so excited about."   
  
     "Because we'll never be out of sugar again," Peter said in a hushed voice as he dropped into the chair James had vacated and leaned forward.   
  
     "Oh, how do you figure?" Sirius asked, leaning in forward.   
  
    Remus stepped forward and sat down; perched on the arm of the chair Peter was sitting in. Then he leaned forward until both of his elbows touched the table. "Because, we've just come back from Hogsmeade."   
  
     "Right, and I'm the Tooth Fairy. Just let me run upstairs and grab my spare set of wings, the House Elves are washing my usual pair," Sirius said with an annoyed look on his face. "Will you two please tell me what you've been up to? I've been bored out of my mind all evening."   
  
     "We went to Hogsmeade, you dolt," Remus reiterated. "The passage in the third floor corridor goes to Honeydukes!"   
  
    Sirius looked into both of their faces, searching for any sign that they were having at him. Seeing none he leaned back on the two legs of the chair again and stared vacantly out a window for a moment before returning to the table.   
  
     "Honestly? On your mother's wands?"   
  
     "Should both of them be hexed until they croak like frogs," Peter said solemnly.   
  
     "Sweet Merlin…" Sirius said.   
  
     "You can say that again," Remus said beaming.   
  
     "We've got to tell James. This just might make up for this evening," Sirius said, jumping up and sweeping the Sugar Quills and Fizzing Whizbees into his hand.   
  
     "This evening? What happened thing evening?" Peter asked cautiously.   
  
     "Only the usual…" Sirius began running towards the steps to the boys dormitory. "Murder, mayhem, mystery…"  
  
     "Oh, well if that's all," Remus said and the three Marauders ran off grinning and laughing like only carefree First Years can.   


~~*~~

  
    Two weeks, four trips to Honeydukes and ten tutoring sessions later, James was walking back from the Great Hall. He'd spent his evening reviewing with three Hufflepuff's for their Transfiguration final coming up the following month. He reached the junction between the library and the corridor leading off to the Gryffindor Common Room. Rather than heading for his House, as he usually would, he turned into the library and pulled _Calming Charms for the Claustrophobic_ off the shelf in the Healing Potions section and followed the hidden corridor to the Astronomy Tower. He made a quick glance of the room before stepping into it, happy to find it free of the usual hormone driven upperclassmen. He assumed that with the upcoming O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s that the Astronomy Tower was rather neglected these days.   
  
    _One month left_, he thought as he crossed the room and settled onto a ledge, looking out across the grounds._ This time a year ago I was so worried that for some crazy reason, I wouldn't even be invited to Hogwarts. That, even though I showed some magical talent, it wouldn't be enough to get me admitted._ He chuckled at the recollection of himself pacing his room, trying to levitate various objects or turn them colors with occasional success, yet still convinced that Hogwarts would overlook him. He laughed even harder when he remembered his mother bursting into his room and telling him off for breaking her third vase that he'd borrowed for 'practice'… he'd spent the rest of that evening de-gnoming the garden.   
  
    Suddenly, three faces floated through his mind and, if possible, he grinned even wider as his eyes slowly traveled up towards the sky._ The Marauders. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I'd find friends like them. I mean, Sirius Black, whoever would've thought that I'd be best friends with the first Black to not be, well, evil._ He shuddered at the thought of the rest of the Blacks, who were aptly put in Slytherin. Then he winced, remembering the Howler Sirius had received the day after they'd been sorted about being a failure… he imagined that Sirius would probably not have the best summer._ I'll have to remember to invite Sirius over for a few weeks this summer… all of them actually. Peter still has a lot to learn about the magical world and Remus will probably collapse in ecstasy when he sees our library. _  
  
    James shifted his legs a bit, shaking the left one, which had fallen asleep. He glanced up at the moon._ Full tonight._ He laughed remembering another childhood memory. _I suppose Dad was right, it wasn't made of cheese._ He glanced back at the moon again._ It probably would've tasted really good though. I think it would've been cheddar like._ He laughed at himself again. _Amazing, all the things I used to think… amazing all the things I've learned this year. For Merlin's sake, I can transfigure tons of small objects now, even some of the larger ones… surprised McGonagall with that. If she thinks Evans is the only one who can… ugh, Evans. She gives the term witch a bad name. Well, I'll show them both, from next year on I'll have the top marks by far in that class. A desk into a kimono dragon…they haven't seen anything yet._ He glared angrily at Mars. _That stupid Lily Evans._ He shook his head, trying to clear this thoughts.   
  
    _Don't think about Evans, think about… Remus. He's sick again. Maybe Seer is right. **No one** gets as sick as that boy. I think he's allergic to himself from all the allergies he claims to have._ James looked up at the full moon and smirked. _The lad might as well be a werewolf for as often as he's sick._ He chuckled a bit at the absurdity of the thought, a werewolf at Hogwarts. _I should find him a book from the library or something that he can read while he's in the Hospital Wing. I swear, no one reads as much as him. He'll be Head Boy in our Seventh Year, I bet. Wow, Seventh Year… that seems so far away, but this year went so fast. Between learning all that news stuff and all the stunts we pulled and all the hours in detention and Peter and Remus…_ He winced at the memory of that particular Care of Magical Creatures class and the ensuing weeks. He remembered the fear that he'd felt running towards them, the cold feeling of emptiness that he'd felt upon waking each morning, knowing that any moment Professor Dumbledore or McGonagall might show up to tell him and Sirius that Peter or Remus had… He tried to shake the memory out of his head and swung his legs off the ledge and onto the classroom floor, making his way to the door.   
  
    _Don't think about that, James,_ he chided himself._ Think about… Honeydukes. Who on Earth would've expected Remus and Peter to come bursting into his room and jump onto his bed, babbling about a secret passage to Hogsmeade?_ He grinned again as he walked down the spiraling steps out of the tower._ Well, I certainly didn't. I almost hexed them into next year thinking they were Sirius, back to bother me again. Four and a half weeks, is that really all that I have left here? It will be Seventh Year before I know it._ His eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind. _I can try out for the House Quidditch team next year._ He unconsciously danced a slight little jig as he walked along, dreaming of flying high above the castle. _I bet Sirius will try out too and we've both got a shot really, they're loosing four members this year. **Four!** That just about never happens. Both beaters, a chaser and the keeper… but I'm sure next year, with us on the team, we'll win the cup. Remus isn't too bad on a broom either, I bet he'd make a good keeper. Yes, that's just what'll happen next year._ And James Potter, his head far above the Quidditch pitch, made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, daydreaming about the fantastic future that was headed his way.   


~~*~~

  
     "Ummm, not quite, Peter," Cortessa mumbled, running her hands through her hair, with a look of determined resignation on her face. "But we'll get it yet."   
  
    James chuckled as he noticed that the hair Tessa had been running her hands through was not its normal shade of black, but rather pink, for a moment, then purple, then green. James watched, mildly amused for a moment before Alice looked up from her own book.   
  
     "Goodness," she said and pulled out her wand, muttering what James assumed was the countercharm. He had to bite back a chuckle as Cortessa's usually very straight hair, turned into a mass of bouncing curls. From the look on her face, she was clearly regretting offering to study for the impending Charms final with Peter.   
  
    Peter glanced over at the table across the Common Room where James, Remus and Sirius were cramming for their Transfiguration final tomorrow morning, to be followed by a Charms examination the same afternoon, sending a 'get me out of here' look to James.   
  
    James just shrugged at him, then pointed back at Tessa. Peter swiveled and sighed in relief as Melissa showed up.   
  
     "Oh bloody hell," she muttered and returned Tessa to her normal state.      "Thanks, Mel," Cortessa said glancing up at Peter. "Could've happened to anyone, I suppose, Peter." She didn't quite sound like she believed what she'd just said.   
  
     "Maybe I'd best go over and work with James and the others," Peter said quietly.   
  
    Melissa sat down, "Nonsense, if Tess, said she'd help you, then she will. You just hit one of her many vain spots, spends hours on that hair each morning she does. I'd venture a guess that you just made her worst nightmare come true."   
  
    Cortessa slapped Melissa hard on the arm.   
  
    Melissa looked puzzled. "Not all of us roll out of bed and into the Great Hall, Mel," Tessa addressed her and then looked her up and down slowly. "Obviously."   
  
    Melissa's eyes widened. "And what, exactly are you implying? Miss I Spend _Two Hours_ Getting Ready Every Morning? I tremble to imagine how bad you'll be by our Fourth or Fifth Year."   
  
     "Oh really? Well, Miss My Hair is Bushier Than Your Average Shrub, some of us would actually like to attract an occasional member of the opposite sex." Tessa slammed the book she had on her lap onto the table in anger.   
  
     "Right then," Alice jumped in. "So we've established that you're a narcissist, Tess, and Mel, you're a… tomboy? Oh the horrors of it both. For Merlin's sake, you're both best friends and you're acting worse than Slytherins. Maybe you'd both best just head up to bed, I think the studying had warped both of your brains."   
  
     "Who'll help Peter then?" Tessa spat out, still glaring at Melissa.   
  
     "I will," Rebecca said, walking up to the table, clearly having overheard most of the argument. "Anything, and I do mean anything, has got to be better than Lily in exam mode."   
  
    The other three chuckled.   
  
     "Sorry Tess, you can spend as much time as you want with the mirror… as we've clearly ascertained it's not my favorite piece of furniture in our dormitory," Melissa said with a grin.   
  
     "And someday I'll actually get you to spend some time in front of it and those Gryffindor boys won't know what's coming," Tessa commented back, glancing first at Peter and then over to the Marauders huddled in the corner studying. She hugged Melissa. "Sorry, Mel."   
  
    Peter sat there wide eyed, having listened to the two girls insult each other and then suddenly burst into laughter was very odd. His eyes darted around as he tried to figure out how to escape the madness.   
  
     "You know, Tess, you mock my tomboy ways, but we'd solve all our problems considerably quicker if we just took a few swings at one another when we're annoyed," Melissa observed as she began to gather up her books and quills.   
  
     "Very true, but if women started doing that, therapists would be out of business," Tessa agreed as they stood up from the table.   
  
     "No, not as long as we've got our mums," Melissa concluded following Cortessa up the stairs, where Peter could hear their conversations, faintly, as it continued amicably.   
  
     "I never would've pegged them to become best friends when we first got here," Alice commented.   
  
     "Why not?" Peter asked, startled, but still happy for the study break.   
  
     "Are you daft, man?" Rebecca said as she settled in across from Peter. "The only person in this place who is possibly more narcissistic than Cortessa is probably Narcissa Black, I mean, she was aptly named. Now, don't get me wrong, we love Tessa dearly, but she's not quite all there upstairs, if you know what I mean, at times. Her head is on boys and make up and clothes… I'm sure it'll only get worse before it gets better. Mel, on the other hand, only looks in the mirror to make sure she hasn't got toothpaste on her face in the morning, and even then that sometimes slips her mind. She's crazy about books, any kind, and probably knows more about the world political situations than the Ministry of Magic and Parliament combined. Can you conceive a stranger match for two best friends?"   
  
    Peter grinned. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe two loud, smart, obnoxious pranksters, a quiet bookish boy and an agreeable, if somewhat slow, Muggle born wizard?"   
  
     "I guess that answers your question, Becca. He's as daft as they are," Alice gestured lightly towards the staircase Melissa and Cortessa had just ascended.   
  
     "There are worse things than being daft," Peter commented.   
  
     "That there are, Peter," Rebecca agreed. At that point, a certain red head made her way through the portrait hole and over towards her friends, looking as thoroughly disheveled as she had the first time she's spoken to James and his friends. Before she even managed to sit down at the table, Peter noticed Sirius and James had made a hasty retreat from the Common Room, leaving Remus alone, looking slightly puzzled.   
  
    Remus glanced over at Peter, who gestured towards Lily, and his puzzled look melted away into one of exasperation. For the past month and a half, since the fateful 'Day of the Dragon' as the Marauders referred to it, neither Lily nor James had uttered so much as a syllable to one another. Remus gathered up his books and walked over to where the girls were seated.   
  
     "May I join you? It looks like I've been deserted," Remus said, shuffling his feet next to the table.   
  
     "Of course," Alice moved several of her parchments out of the way, to clear a spot for him. He sat down next to Peter and pulled back out his Transfiguration book and notes. The group worked quietly for a few minutes, Rebecca trying to teach Peter the correct charm for changing something's color. After a few tried, he succeeded and he began to concentrate on a charm that had similar effects to the Wiggling Writing potion that had given Sirius such a headache a few weeks earlier.   
  
    Nearly two hours later the group looked up as they heard the thuds of footsteps on the girls dormitory steps. Melissa came bounding into view wearing her pajamas, her hair, usually pulled back in an extremely messy ponytail that made her head look very odd, was billowing around her face. She bounded up to the table and looked at Remus, cocking her head to get a better look at what appeared to be his hand.   
  
     "Is that my quill, then?" she asked him and then yawned sleepily.   
  
    Remus's eyes went wide as he stared at her. He normally found her quite pretty, but now. Her hair was longer than he'd thought, and when it was out of that stupid ponytail, it looked stunning. His gaze dropped a bit and he realized that she slept in boxer shorts. He could see her legs._ Sweet Merlin, she has legs!_ he thought and then fought the urge to laugh. _Of course she has legs, you dolt, she walks, doesn't she?_ He looked back up to her face framed by that hair and her hazel eyes, surrounded, as always, by those familiar glasses.   
  
     "Remmy, is that her quill?" Peter nudged him and repeated. Remus took in a breath sharply and then looked down at the table.   
  
     "Uh, no Mel. This is my quill." He picked up the quill lying near his parchment. "This one yours?"   
  
     "Yes," she said and smiled sleepily. Remus decided right then and there that he could stare at her smiling sleepily forever. "Thanks." She reached to take the quill and brushed his fingers retrieving it. Her touch shot through her like lightening. When he looked up again she was already halfway up the steps. She stopped and turned back to the group. "You lot do realize how late it is, don't you? You're supposed to get a decent night's sleep before a test." She grinned again and disappeared from sight.   
  
    Apparently their whole exchange had not been noticed by most of the group. Rebecca looked over at the grandfather clock against the wall. "Great scott," she exclaimed. "It's nearly one thirty!" Rebecca and Alice both quickly gathered their things and headed towards their dormitory.   
  
     "Coming, Lil?" Rebecca shouted over her shoulder.   
  
     "In a bit, Becca," Lily said, gesturing towards her notes. "Just want to finish this bit."   
  
     "Right then. Night boys," Rebecca said and started up the stairs.   
  
     "Goodnight, Remus," Alice said. "I'm sure you'll do just fine tomorrow, Peter. See you in the morning."   
  
    The moment they were out of sight, Lily rolled up her parchment and looked up at Remus. "Well then," she said with a trace of a smile.   
  
     "Well what?" he muttered. "I thought you wanted to finish your notes."   
  
     "I'm just concerned about you, Remus." Peter looked up at this and then over at Remus.   
  
     "Huh? Why?" Remus looked honestly confused.   
  
     "Well, when someone is as red as you are right now, they've either got an insanely high fever that will probably kill them, or they're in love," Lily said, sitting back as she crossed her arms and grinned.   
  
     "Well, I'm not in love," Remus said firmly and reached for a new quill even though his current one was fine.   
  
     "Then we'd best rush you off to Madame Pomfry, eh Peter?" Lily commented.   
  
    Peter tried to bite back a grin.   
  
     "I'm quite alright, thank you very much, Lily Evans." Lily chuckled when Remus used her full name, a habit he had when he was annoyed with whomever he was addressing. "It's just a bit hot in here, is all."   
  
     "Right Remus," Peter said, as he shivered and slipped into a sweater. He chuckled at the excuse since earlier some overzealous upperclassman had attempted to put a cooling charm on the Common Room and had overdone themselves.   
  
    Lily laughed quite hard at that comment and began to gather her things. As she stood up from the table, she stopped. "I don't know what you're angling for with her right now, Lupin, but since you don't seem to be up for any sort of commitment at the moment, I feel quite secure assuring you that she didn't notice your attitude towards her. God bless her, but Melissa can be really out of regarding such things most of the time. Evening, boys."   
  
    With that, Lily exited the Common Room, leaving behind one shivering, laughing eleven year old and one thoroughly overheated and confused twelve year old.   


~~*~~

  
     "It's official," Sirius stated as they walked out of their last exam, History of Magic. "I'm abysmal at that class."   
  
     "Abysmal?" James pondered. "No, I've got to get a slightly higher grade than I just did to achieve a rating such as abysmal. We'll talk when you hit lower than flobberworms on the food chain."   
  
     "I didn't think it was that bad," Peter comment cheerily.   
  
     "The bloody boy's got a death wish," Sirius said, turning on him.   
  
     "Professor McGonagall, hello," Peter yelled happily and waved over the other three boys shoulders. Sirius and James stopped dead in their tracks and spun around to say hello to the head of their house.   
  
     "Hello, Prof…" James started to chirp, quickly realizing that Professor McGonagall was nowhere in the area. "Pete!" he thundered and looked at the slowly shrinking form of one of his best friends running towards the Entrance Hall, cackling madly.   
  
     "Get him," Sirius roared and turned to Remus and James. "The penalty for dissenting during the required 'I failed that test' rant is death by tickling hex." He pulled out his wand and started off after Peter, James quickly drawing his wand and following him.   
  
     "You've got to be kidding me," Remus said, more to himself than anyone else, then shook his head grinning.   
  
     "Kidding you? Why never!" Frank had just walked out of the classroom. "If I never hear about another Goblin Revolt or Giant War it'll be too soon."   
  
     "Or it'll be September," Remus quipped back with a grin. "See you in the Great Hall, Frank." Remus took off at an all out run and rather quickly caught up to Sirius and James, who had nearly caught Peter.   
  
     "How do you run so bloody fast, Remmy?" James asked. For someone he'd never consider very athletic, Remus could run faster than any of the others in the group.   
  
    Remus turned midstride and began to run backwards as James and Sirius ran forwards. "Natural talent," he grinned, not even winded.   
  
    As the came upon the lake, the three were so intent on catching Peter that the other two didn't even notice for a second when Remus fell, until something caught James around the ankle and he went flying, followed half a second later by Sirius. The three lay on the ground for a moment getting their bearings.   
  
     "Gerroff me," a voice came from below Remus and he felt something sharp dig into his arm. He yelped and jumped up. Below him was a Slytherin girl, she looked familiar, but he could only see the back of her head.   
  
     "Let me go, or I'll hex you," came the sound from under James, who quickly jumped up looking apologetic.   
  
     "Hex me? I'm not holding you on purpose," James said, looking bewildered.   
  
    Sirius was already standing at this point and was glaring at the sight before him. Two Slytherin girls were sprawled across the ground. Remus, although he had initially had a hand pressed to his arm where the girl had dug in her finger nails, was now offering his hand to the girl he'd knocked over. She ignored him and stood on her own, straightening her robes. The other girl was still on the ground, but had pulled herself into sitting position. Both girls had heavy lidded eyes and far too much make up on. Although either one could be considered pretty, there was something about them that made them, to the three boys present at any rate, ugly, in a way. One had blonde hair so blonde it was nearly white, while the other had thick black locks. Leaning against the tree they'd just run around were two other girls. One was tall and thin, like you could snap her in half if you had the mind to, with straight black hair. The other was very large and seemed to be sporting a unibrow of sorts, with greasy, dirty blonde hair.   
  
     "Put your wand down, Bella. It was an accident," Sirius said coldly. "And stop glaring at him Cissy," he addressed the girl with the blonde hair now, who was straightening her robes still. She made a face at him. "I just said it was an accident."   
  
     "Do not call me, Cissy, you disgrace," she nearly spat at him. She had a look on her face like someone who had just stuck their hand into a dirty toilet to unclog it.   
  
     "Fine, whatever. Come on guys," Sirius muttered.   
  
     "Well, well, well, whatever have we got here?" A cold voice came from behind the group. Remus winced and thought _What a lovely end to a dreadful day of testing… and where the bloody hell is Peter?_  
  
     "Malfoy," Remus addressed him while glaring. He could see Sirius reach for his wand and James grip his own more tightly.   
  
     "Are these little boys bothering you, Narcissa?" he looked to the blonde girl. "Bellatrix? Shall we take care of it for you?" Malfoy gestured to his group of cronies. Crabbe, Goyle and Nott all stood behind him menacingly.   
  
    Narcissa put a pout on her thin lips and her hands on her hips, "That one knocked me down." She pointed to Remus.   
  
     "Well for Merlin's sake, you've just about scraped a layer of skin off my arm with those nails, I'd say we're even," Remus retorted, glaring at her.   
  
     "It was an accident," Sirius reiterated.   
  
     "I'll show you accident, Black," Malfoy spit on the ground and then lowered his voice, "This is payback for the incident by the kitchens." He pulled out his wand.   
  
     "What do you think you're doing?" A high pitched voice came from behind the entire group. A Hufflepuff prefect came storming up to them. "Have you all lost your minds? Split up this instant before I start taking points from your Houses!" The thin, blonde girl glanced around at the motley group in front of her, then her eyes widened. "You let him and his friends go, or I'll tell mom. I'll owl her the instant I get back to the castle." Most of the others looked slightly taken aback.   
  
     "Like she'd care, he's a disgrace to the family name. As are you, nothing you say matters anymore," Bellatrix spat out.   
  
     "Well, come on then," the prefect said to the boys and pushed them ahead of her.   
  
    As they departed the three boys and the girl could hear Nott say loudly, "Sister? In Hufflepuff?!?" and Narcissa's quiet comment, "Well now you can see why we don't speak of her." Remus looked at the girl and saw her wince at the other girl's remark.   
  
     "We could've gotten ourselves out of that, Andie," Sirius muttered to the girl.   
  
     "Right, like last time, huh? You're not going to come out on top every time, Sirius," the girl said as they made their way across the lawn back to the castle.   
  
     "You know one another?" James asked.   
  
     "This is my cousin, Andromeda Black," Sirius told the others. "She's graduating this week." He smiled up at her. "Top in her House."   
  
    She patted Sirius's arm and grinned at the other two. "We're the black sheep. The only two in the family in eons not to be in Slytherin… Don't have much of a chance to talk here though, do we?" A look flittered over her face. "I didn't tell you!" She gasped.   
  
     "Is everything alright?" Sirius asked her, looking worried.   
  
     "Yes, yes," she beamed. "I'm getting married. I went home over Spring Holiday and well… I told the family. They blasted my name right off the family tree. Proudest moment of my life, perhaps."   
  
     "To that Muggle you met last summer?" Sirius asked with a grin.   
  
     "Yes, Ted," she looked ecstatic.   
  
     "Do they know?" he jerked his thumb over his shoulder gesturing towards the Slytherin group back by the trees.   
  
     "I told the two of them when I got back. They asked what House he graduated from, I think they were almost hoping Slytherin… but maybe I'm kidding myself. They probably didn't even care that much. I think I got half of the word Muggle out of my mouth before they turned tail on me and walked right out of the room," Andie gave a sad glance backwards.   
  
     "They're not worth it, Andie," Sirius said.   
  
     "They're my sisters, Sirius… no matter what, they'll always be worth something to me," she said sadly as they entered the castle. "Avoid the whole lot of them though, alright? I'd rather not have to take points from my favorite cousin's House for fighting right before graduation." She gave him another pat on the arm. "I'll owl you over the summer, maybe you can come for the wedding. We're going to do it the Muggle way, since it matters so much to his family and ours… well…" She looked away.   
  
     "I'll do whatever I can to get there, Andie," Sirius said as he and the other two Marauder's headed towards the Great Hall.   
  
    She grinned and disappeared in the direction of the Hufflepuff Common Room.   
  
     "I had no idea you had so much family at Hogwarts," Remus commented.   
  
     "Only her," he said quietly. "And she's leaving anyway. I don't count the other two…" He trailed off and stalked towards their table where the three were surprised to find Peter working his way through a heaping plate of treacle.   
  
    Sirius smacked him upside the head.   
  
     "Oi," Peter said, coughing of some of the treacle.   
  
     "Where were you?" Remus asked him as he and James sat down across from Sirius and Peter.   
  
     "Just now?" Peter asked, looking down at his plate.   
  
     "Yea, just now. With the Slytherins," James said, dumping several chicken legs on his plate.   
  
     "I thought I'd just get in the way, so I came in here to save us all seats," Peter said, gesturing to each of them as though to indicate they had seats, didn't they.   
  
     "Bloody loony, you are," Sirius said. "You wouldn't be in the way, we could've used you."   
  
     "Well, you all got out of it alright," Peter replied.   
  
     "Yea, cause Sirius's cousin saved us," James muttered.   
  
     "Bellatrix saved you?" Peter asked as his jaw dropped.   
  
     "No, Andromeda," Sirius said, digging into a bowl of vegetables.   
  
     "Andwho?" Peter asked.   
  
     "My cousin Andromeda, she's in Hufflepuff. She's a prefect, showed up and saved us. Even you could see why I wouldn't wish to associate with a _prefect_, Pete," Sirius grinned and dug into the food.   
  
    At the other end of the table, still staying as far away from James as she could get, Lily and her group slid into their seats and began to eat.   
  
    In the library, Frank Longbottom and his friends Rob Cage and Rob Davis marveled over how destructive the Crutacius Curse could be and discussed how their Defense Against the Dark Arts exams had gone.   
  
    Sitting on a couch in the Hufflepuff Common Room, Melody Smith, twin sister to Alice Smith, was discussing the merits of Crabby Christie's Cover-All Curls potion versus Sleekeasy's Hair Potion with Elizabeth Fortescue and Olivia O'Brien.   
  
    Out by the lake, seven Slytherins were listening to Lucius Malfoy make jokes about Mudbloods, Gryffindor and the Marauders.   
  
    And in Minerva McGonagall's office sat one small Ravenclaw First Year, curled up in a chair crying tears she never thought would stop while her aunt hurried around the desk to try and comfort her. 


	12. “And that wouldn’t have been temporary”

    "Owl post," Peter said, without looking up.   
  
     "Thanks, Peter, because clearly all of us are deaf and blind," Remus mumbled as he was in his typically cheerful morning mood.   
  
     "Very well could be, what the bloody hell were you doing when I got in last evening?" James asked Sirius.   
  
     "We were trying to make a potion that would render you deaf for a few minutes… but the explosion it caused… well, you saw the end results," Sirius offered as he buttered some toast.   
  
     "Nearly made us go deaf as it was," Peter squeaked. "And _that_ wouldn't have been temporary."   
  
     "And what were you going to do with this potion?" James asked as several owls landed in their vicinity.   
  
     "Revenge," Sirius said and jerked his head in the general direction of the Slytherin table.   
  
     "Seer, we've got three days left here, all of absolute freedom just waiting for exam results, and you're plotting how to get back at the Slytherins," James said as he made clucking noises of disapproval. He reached for an owl that had just landed next to his plate and undid the letter attached to it. Across the table, Remus was paying the owl for his _Daily Prophet_ and beginning to open it. "Why didn't you let me in on this?" James grinned.   
  
     "Figured you were in enough trouble as it was," Sirius offered and then glanced at Remus, "Can I nick the sports section, mate? The Chudley Cannons went against Puddlemere United yesterday and I've got three galleons against Robert Davis that the Cannons won."   
  
    Remus made some sort of disgruntled noise and shoved a piece of the paper towards Sirius.   
  
     "Remus, can I…" Peter began but was cut off as Remus shoved the editorial section at him. Peter grinned. "Thanks."   
  
     "I've never understood what you see in the editorials, Pete," James said to his short blonde friend who was now busy reading.   
  
     "Maybe it's the fact that all those people are whining for the public," Sirius offered. "I hope you realize that's not a realistic occupational goal, mate." He put his head back into his own section of the paper as Peter looked up and made a face at him.   
  
     "Bloody hell…" Remus muttered and looked up from his paper. "Look at this guys." He put the paper flat on the table.   
  
     "What in the name of Merlin is that thing?" James asked.   
  
    Peter squeaked, "Whatever it is, I really don't like it." His editorial page was forgotten.   
  
     "Who cares what it is! The Cannons lost, bloody hell. That stupid Porskoff Ploy, really, you think the Cannons keeper would've gotten wise to that ages ago." He sighed. "I've got to go find Davis," Sirius muttered, getting up from the table.   
  
     "Would you look at this, you thick headed dolt," James said as he grabbed Sirius's arm.   
  
     "Look at what?" he said irritably.   
  
    The four boys looked down at the newspaper that showed a picture of a decent sized house, late in the night. Hovering, high above the house, was a picture of a massive skull, with a snake coming out of its mouth like a tongue, the whole thing seemed to be sparkling green.   
  
     "What the hell is that?" Sirius asked. The other three boys shrugged and Remus grabbed the paper back.   


**MAYHEM IN SURREY**  
  
Early this morning, the _Daily Prophet_ received a statement from  
Millicent Bagnold, current Minister of Magic, regarding the odd   
appearance of a strange charm above the home of Consus and   
Ceres McGonagall. Early yesterday evening, the Ministry was alerted  
that the McGonagall's believed they were under attack. Aurors   
were quickly dispatched to their home only to find this strange   
charm floating high above their home, and inside, both Consus and  
his wife were found dead on the floor of their living room. The cause  
of death has been attributed to the _Avada Kedavra_ curse. Neighbors,   
when questioned, recalled seeing a green flash of light from next door   
around four in the afternoon. However, as both the McGonagalls were   
herbologists, they attributed it to one of their many plant growing   
experiments. Details surrounding their deaths are still inconclusive.   
The McGonagall are survived by their only daughter, Trixie, who is   
currently finishing her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and   
Wizardry, Consus's sister, Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration   
professor at the abovementioned school, and Lola Neder, Ceres sister.   
The Ministry wishes to warn all of it's readers not to worry  
There will be a full investigation into the matters and the witch or   
wizard who perpetrated this heinous crime will be caught and dealt with.   
As our regular readers surely know, the _Avada Kedavra_ curse is   
punishable by a life sentence in Azkaban. 

  
    Remus stopped there and all four boys looked over to the Ravenclaw table. Trixie McGonagall wasn't there.   
  
     "How horrible," Peter said quietly. "Poor Trixie."   
  
     "It's like whoever did it is mocking them with that stupid charm over the house. I've never seen it before…" Sirius trailed off. "Yeah, poor Trixie."   
  
     "Where's Dumbledore?" James asked, glancing towards the head table. "I don't remember him ever missing breakfast."   
  
     "Maybe he's helping Professor McGonagall with arrangements," Sirius offered, the seriousness of the situation apparent in his use of the word professor for a change.   
  
     "I can't believe somebody would do that. Why would anyone want to kill the McGonagalls? I mean, they were just herbologists," Remus mused.   
  
    Sirius opened his mouth, but Remus jumped back in before anything came out. "If you say, a mystery! And get all excited looking, I may have to hex you." Sirius's jaw snapped shut. "Trixie, a student in our own years, doesn't have parents anymore because of this _mystery_, so I suggest you do your best to curb your enthusiasm, Black."   
  
    Sirius looked rather contrite as he mumbled, "Spot on, Lupin. Spot on." Then he shook his head. "I'd best get Davis his money."   
  
    As Sirius strolled away from the table, James picked up the article to read it for himself and the other two went back to their breakfasts. All four now thoroughly unsettled by the picture on the front page of the _Daily Prophet_.  


~~*~~

  
  
    The news about the McGonagalls quickly swept through the school, followed, of course, by many embellishments.   
  
    Remus told the others that on his way out to meet them by the lake, he'd overheard a third year Hufflepuff talking with a third year Gryffindor, telling him that the McGonagall's were eaten by their plants.   
  
    James reported back that he'd been told by a sixth year Ravenclaw that Mr. McGonagall had owed an ogre a large amount of money from a gambling debt and when he couldn't pay… the girl had trailed off and made a slicing motion across her neck.   
  
    Peter had caught three very frightened Hufflepuff first years sitting on a set of stairs contemplating the idea that Trixie herself had somehow slipped out of the castle and murdered her parents for refusing to buy her a new racing broom. He'd stopped long enough to tell them off, Peter reported to the other three. The other three were somewhat surprised to see three girls in Hufflepuff uniforms walk by later that evening with skin a slight shade of blue (a color that Peter was well known for accidentally producing when he tried to do any sort of color change charm).   
  
    The group was now sitting by the lake once again and Peter was still in a tiff over what the Hufflepuff girls had said.   
  
     "You know that's ridiculous, Pete," Sirius said, the only one out of the whole group to have ignored most of the gossip. "I must say though, Trixie would be proud if she could see your color change charm."   
  
     "More likely annoyed," Remus commented.   
  
     "Well, she's a friend and they were saying such horrible, stupid things about her. I mean, if my mum and dad…" Peter shook his head. "I just wouldn't want to overhear things like that when I got back."   
  
     "I doubt she'll be back until September," Sirius said. He had his wand out and was summoning and banishing a nearby stick to keep himself entertained.   
  
     "You're right," James said as he watched the stick fly away. "You know, Seer, you've been very quiet on the whole rumor front."   
  
     "Yea well…" he concentrated on the stick flying at him and caught it.   
  
     "Amazing what will amuse you, Sirius," Remus commented as he pulled out a book.   
  
     "I overheard my cousins the other day," Sirius said quietly. "They suspect it might be Voldemort. I thought they were nutters at first… but maybe…"   
  
     "Volde-who?" Peter asked, his Muggle ancestry showing itself.   
  
     "Voldemort. He's this guy who had crazy ideas about pure bloods…" Remus began and then glanced at Peter awkwardly.   
  
     "Like the Slytherins?" Peter asked glumly.   
  
     "Like the worst Slytherin ever," James took up the story. "He's all for anti-Muggle regulations and wants to keep Muggle born witches and wizards out of the Ministry. He's got quite a following…" James stopped midsentence and then stared off into the lake.   
  
     "As most of the old blood families agree with most of his ideas," Sirius finished. "Like mine. Those stupid gits."   
  
     "I mean, he's not dangerous though. The man's a nutter, but… he really wants to make life difficult for anyone who's not a pureblood," James said.   
  
     "But your all pure bloods," Peter said slowly, glancing at his friends.   
  
     "Such a stupid term, blood doesn't matter," Sirius said vehemently.   
  
     "But you three are, at any rate," Peter prompted once again.   
  
    James and Sirius sighed, but Remus opened his mouth to speak.   
  
     "Actually, by Ministry standards, yea… my ancestry is good enough to work for them and all with no questions. But my mum was Muggle born, so in the world of good King Voldemort, or whatever that loon has taken to calling himself, I've got 'dirty blood'," Remus laughed harshly. "Not like that matters, I've got dirty blood anyway, but…"  
  
     "Now who's a loon? Your blood's just fine," James said to Remus and then turned to Peter. "And so is yours. Who cares what our families are like? We all come here and get exactly the same training. It's all lunacy if you ask me."   
  
     "But you two are pure bloods then?" Peter asked once more.   
  
     "Yea," Sirius grunted.   
  
     "Well, it doesn't…" James was cut off.   
  
     "Yes or no, James," Peter said with an odd look in his eye.   
  
     "Yes, I am."   
  
     "So if this lunatic goes on the warpath, he'd come after people like me?" Peter asked quietly.   
  
     "I don't expect old Voldie will ever go on any sort of warpath, per say…" Remus said. "I wouldn't worry about it."   
  
     "But if he killed the McGonagalls," Peter started.   
  
     "Then you've nothing to worry about. The McGonagall's are really old blood. If that's who he's trying to get," Remus stopped short and looked over at Sirius and James, who looked back at him with pained expressions on their faces.   
  
     "Maybe Mrs. McGonagall was Muggle born," Peter said.   
  
     "Well, maybe," Remus conceded. "But even so… I don't think it's him. Voldemort is just too preoccupied with trying to get all his stupid anti-Muggle and anti-Muggle born ideas across. What good would this killing do?"   
  
     "Scare everyone into agreeing with him," James said quietly. "You know, that stupid charm hanging above the house… it does seem like something he would do."   
  
     "I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe Voldemort is just going to start walking around and killing people like that. It's not as though he's Grindelwald, now is it?" Remus said, marking his spot and closing his book carefully.   
  
     "Do you suppose all the people right before Grindelwald's height of terror sat around going, oh no, all these little things, they can't be old Grindy, could they?" Sirius said, mocking Remus.   
  
     "Well, I just hope it isn't thing Voldmorty person, or whoever," Peter said.   
  
     "Voldemort," Sirius corrected.   
  
     "Whatever," Peter dismissed him.   
  
     "Well, if it is him, I'm sure the Ministry will have caught him before the end of the summer," James said as he rose and started back towards the castle. "Grades should be posted by now."   
  
    Remus, Sirius and Peter scrambled after him and the four raced to the Entrance Hall.   


~~*~~

  
     "One hundred and ten percent in Defense Against the Dark Arts," James whistled appreciatively under his breath. "How the heck did you manage that, Remmy?"   
  
     "I used a really weird tactic," Remus said grinning. "I studied."   
  
     "Wow, you three are neck in neck for top boy in our year," Peter said, craning his neck to find his own name.   
  
     "Way to go Pete. You kicked all our arses in Herbology," Sirius said. "Ninety nine percent. I only got seventy six."   
  
     "Have you opened that book once this year, Sirius?" Remus asked, trying to see the rest of his grades. "We all passed potions. Thank Merlin. I thought Nackle might fail us for fun."   
  
     "Just barely," Peter said, wrinkling his nose. "A sixty seven percent. My mum and dad aren't going to be happy about that one."   
  
     "Eh, but the rest of your grades are all high seventies and low eighties," Sirius said. "Just show them the Potions grade and follow it quickly with Herbology. It might get them off your case a bit."   
  
    Sirius finished reading through the posted paper. "Actually, I think it's more like Remus and James are neck in neck for top boy. That Herbology grade really lowered my average." He looked at the other two boys. "Did either of you get anything below a ninety percent?"   
  
     "Exams are stupid," James said and started off towards the Gryffindor Common Room. "I've got to pack."   
  
     "What's that all about?" Remus asked, puzzled.   
  
     "Ah, I've got an idea." Sirius double checked the paper and chuckled. "Lily beat him by a point for the highest grade in the Charms exam. She's got the highest average for the year."   
  
     "Who's got the highest average for the year? In what? Did you say Charms?" A nervous red head popped in front of Sirius to look at the scores parchment. A few seconds later she did a little jig and turned to her friend. "Becca, I beat Potter!_ And _I have the highest grade for the year in Charms!"   
  
     "Way to go, Lil," the tall, thin brunette strolled over next to Lily and glanced at her own grades. "Not too shabby myself," she commented with a smile. "Looks like you've got the highest average for the year out of the girls. Watch out though, James and Remus are right behind you."   
  
     "Ugh, Potter," Lily growled and started off towards the steps in the direction of the Common Room.   
  
     "Should we tell her James just headed that way?" Sirius asked the two boys and girl standing nearby him.   
  
     "Nah, why spoil the fun?" Rebecca said and followed Lily off.   
  
     "We'd best go pack, then," Remus said.   
  
     "Yea," Sirius agreed, abnormally quiet for a moment. The three then went off towards the Gryffindor Common Room, discuss current events in Quidditch and the strangeness that was Lily Evans.   


~~*~~

  
    Peter was watching the woods zip by as the Hogwarts Express hurled itself towards London. _An entire year as a wizard. A** wizard**! Who would've ever thought in my family? I've got three really great new friends too._ He pulled his gaze away from the window and looked over at James and Sirius, fighting over the last Chocolate Frog from the witch's snack cart. _I guess some things will never change._ He easily recalled a very similar event that had occurred the first day he met them. He looked at James again as he triumphantly opened the wrapping on the frog and popped it into his mouth. _James Potter_, he thought. _I'm best friends with one of the kids from one of the oldest and most respected wizarding families in existence. I wonder if they were all as odd as him when they were twelve._ He smiled to himself as he recalled making that same comment to James in April when the Marauder's had celebrated James's twelfth birthday in his hospital room. _He's such a show off. I bet no one on Earth would believe what he and Sirius did for me._ Peter shook his head again in mild amazement. He still couldn't believe what the witch had accidentally let slip to him the day before he'd been discharged. The two boys had never mentioned it, and Peter had allowed them to keep their secret. _Everyone knows him as the lunatic that tried to take on Lily Evans's kimono dragon with a little iguana._ Peter actually snorted at the thought of the little blonde Hufflepuff who'd made a comment using almost that exact wording to him one day in Charms. _I doubt most of them ever take the time to notice that even before he was forced to, he spent plenty of nights tutoring anyone he could help. _  
  
    A loud snap shook Peter out of his thoughts for a moment, immediately followed by the triumphant crow of Sirius._ Sirius Black,_ Peter mused. _Thank Merlin, he's not a Slytherin. I'd definitely rather be on his good side than bad._ He looked over and watched as Sirius began shuffling the remaining cards._ Flat out lunatic… but his History of Magic notes for me while I was sick were more precise than even the text books… and he usually sleeps through that class. _Peter half heartedly watched the ensuing game of Exploding Snap as he thought over the strange little sacrifices that Sirius made for his friends without a second thought. His mind slipped back to a memory of the day Sirius had explained Quidditch to him. He actually charmed a small rock to act like a bludger and took a blow to the head to illustrate a point to Peter. At the time, Peter had just assumed he was off his rocker, as usual, but later… he thought that perhaps Sirius just didn't care if he'd gotten hurt, only that his friend now understood the finer points of Quidditch defense tactics. _What a dolt… Madame Pomfry had a good laugh at us trying to explain exactly how Sirius had given himself a concussion with that rock. _  
  
    Peter looked up once again as he heard the compartment door slide open. Rebecca and Melissa walked in saying they were looking for Frank's toad.   
  
     "Honestly, the boy is impossible," Rebecca said as she peered under the seats. "I swear, someday soon I'm going to Spellotape that dumb amphibian to his forehead."   
  
     "You'll tell us if you see it then, won't you?" Melissa asked as she stood on tiptoe to peer into the overhead luggage area. "Do send Remus or Peter though… Lily's sitting with us." She glanced at James. "We'd prefer to have an otherwise uneventful trip home."   
  
    The girls grinned and made their good-bye's, ushered out to the boy's assurances that if the toad showed up, they'd bring it straight to Frank or Rebecca. James and Sirius returned to their game, but Peter had enough time to notice Remus's red tinge as Melissa exited.   
  
    _And Remus Lupin,_ Peter retreated back into his thoughts as Remus picked up some book about the Dark Arts and began to read._ I'd never have pegged him for a Marauder initially. Stupid cheese._ He grinned despite himself. That had been a decent prank. Suddenly, his gaze became more subdued._ He saved my life._ Peter never ceased to be amazed that the quiet boy hiding behind the book, sitting right in front of him, had not hesitated for even a second, despite the huge risk to his own personal safety, to try and save him._ Would I do that for him?_ Peter shivered slightly. _I hope I would. I hope I would be willing to give my own life so I could save him, if I ever had to. Any of them really. _He looked over at the other two who had given up on their game and were now chatting amicably._ I'm sure they would have done the same if they'd been closer. Yes, if I had to, right now, I'd die for the three of them._ He looked out the window rather surprised at his decision. _It's so easy to think though… I bet it's not as easy to do. _  
  
    Rather sick of thinking all these serious thoughts during his last few hours with his new mates before an entire summer away from them, he turned to listen to what James and Sirius were talking about.   
  
     "Ah but if we tell him…" Sirius said conspiratorially.   
  
     "They're not all stupid. They may be familiar with Muggle crop circles," James cut him off.   
  
     "You weren't," Sirius pointed out.   
  
     "But really, is covering the Quidditch pitch in corn realistic? How long will that take us?" James asked.   
  
     "With proper growth charms… maybe an hour? If we get Remmy and Pete to help, less time," Sirius said, acknowledging Peter.   
  
     "I have no idea what you're doing to the Quidditch pitch and I don't want to know," Remus said as he put down his book and curled up on the seat. "I'm getting some sleep. Wake me up if the witch comes by again with the snack cart."   
  
     "Like we'd risk life and limb to wake you up for Every Flavor Beans, I think not," James said quite seriously. Then he grinned realizing that Remus was already nearing unconsciousness.   
  
     "Only he could sleep during the last few hours we'll all be together for nearly three months," Peter said to the others.   
  
     "Eh, it's closer to two," Sirius corrected. "And I doubt we won't see each other."   
  
     "I was going to invite you three over for a week or two, if my parents let me," James said.   
  
     "I would, but trust me, my house is nowhere for four young Gryffindors to spend any amount of time," Sirius shivered.   
  
     "Moomfhosegust," Remus muttered at the others, who just looked at one another with grins and raised eyebrows.   
  
     "Right Remmy," Sirius said and shook his head. "The lad could sleep if the world were crumbling around him."   
  
     "Well, I don't think you guys would want to spend a few days in a Muggle house. After all this… it's going to seem very dull at home," Peter said glumly.   
  
     "Are you kidding, mate?" Sirius said excitedly. "Muggle homes are fascinating to wizards who grow up in wizarding households. Do you think your parents would let us come?"   
  
    James looked just as excited as Sirius. Peter was a bit taken aback. "Of course, yea sure. I'll ask them and then… well, I can't exactly send you an owl, we haven't any."   
  
     "Don't worry, one of us can write you and you can send back responses with the owls we send," James assured him.   
  
    Peter beamed. Suddenly the summer holiday didn't seem so… endless. He was still worried that he'd get off the train and go back to his regular life, only to find that it had all been a dream. Peter leaned forward towards James and Sirius, "Crop circles, eh?"   


~~*~~

  
     "You wake him, I'm not touching him. I prefer to keep all my limbs intact, thank you very much," Peter said. The Hogwarts Express had arrived in London and the lucid Marauders were left fighting over who had the task of awakening Remus.   
  
     "I've an idea," Sirius said as he pulled the book Remus had been reading before falling asleep out of his hands. "Get into the hallway, mates. We're going to run for it."   
  
     "Oh for Merlin's sake, Seer… don't chuck it at his head at any rate," James said with a smirk and headed for the platform, Peter on his heels. A second later they heard a loud thud, an angry growl and the heavy thuds of Sirius running out to the platform. A moment later, a disheveled Remus appeared rubbing his arm, glaring as Sirius.   
  
    The four Marauders tugged their trunks along towards the barrier, pausing only to capture Bob, Peter's rat, when he escaped for a moment.   
  
     "Well then, are we ready for the real world?" Remus asked the others right before they crossed the barrier.   
  
     "I believe, my groggy friend, the correct question is, do you suppose the real world is ready for us?" Sirius asked with a wicked grin and both he and James crossed the barrier into Muggle London.   
  
    Peter looked at Remus and smiled. "I think he's spot on," Peter said as he walked through the barrier, already looking forward to a summer of exchanging owls and, perhaps, even visiting his friends at their homes… real wizarding homes. He was distracted from his thoughts again as his mother and father swooped down upon him, gathering him in a great bear hug. In the commotion, he dropped Bob again and Peter, along with Remus, Sirius and James, who noticed his plight, chased the little rat out of the train station and into the bright sunshine outside.   
**To be continued…**


End file.
